Po's History
by Lion warrior
Summary: Dear Sadeeq, Greetings, your dear friend Po writes this letter. I am fine, though starting to feel the tenderness of age. When you first met me, you were intrigued to hear about my famous autobiographies. However, you were very interested in a private story of my life.
1. Chapter 1

Po's History

 **Don't own KFP**

 **I'm studying the Book of Acts in the Bible and this idea came to mind. Though not religious, it is a good time to see how descriptive I can be. Hope you enjoy somehow.**

* * *

 _Dear Sadeeq,_

 _Greetings, your dear friend Po writes this letter. I am fine, though starting to feel the tenderness of age. When you first met me, you were intrigued to hear about my famous autobiographies. However, you were very interested in a private story of my life. Though my wife has been resistant against the release of these papers, for memories' sake, she asked our old messenger, Zeng, to copy and translate these words to you. Though I trust that your Mandarin is up to date, there are certain words that are new in your studies. I have inserted commentaries along with the translations to help you understand my history better._

 _You once asked me a private matter as I mentioned: The training of one of my prized students in my earlier years. The one who's training challenged me and my relationship with others around me. Though it did challenge it, it also deepened it._

 _In my early years, close to when I defeated Kai, I had figured out the key to teaching Kung Fu. However, before I became Dragon Warrior, I used to write, much like a chronicle-keeper. In these papers, you'll find my youthful voice present. I must say in re-reading some of them, much hasn't changed. As you'll see, this innocent writing as a care-free youth carried over into something different._

* * *

Date: Today

Writer: Po

I didn't know what to do at first. When I first wrote a poem for the Harvest Festival, my friends, the awesome Furious Five, said my poem was amazing. I didn't think it was all that, but they seemed to like it. But my friends said that with my 'picturing' skills that I should be a writer. "I don't know what I would write about," I said.

"Just write about whatever you want," Monkey suggested.

"Like what?" I asked.

"A book of poetry, or a songbook, or a romantic drama or-"

"Viper, slow down," I smiled.

"We're not saying that you have to write, Po," My feathered friend, Crane explained. I sighed, thinking about the idea. Even with the teaching and training I did, I still had a lot of time on my hand. The only real work I had was bandit control, training, and... eating. But with the whole collection of things I could do, Tigress said the one thing that seemed to stick with me.

"Write a diary," she simply suggested. I turned my head to her. She was on my right and the whole kitchen in the barracks looked at her.

"Why a diary?"

"Write it for posterity and other people. I'm sure that a lot of people would want to know how the Dragon Warrior grew up," Tigress replied. I thought about it for a moment. It was true. Not that many people in the village really knew anything about me. Though the village is small, most people saw the surface level of my life. I lived in a goose's house/noodle shop. I was like everyone else in the village, except for being the only panda, and I cooked noodles.

That's where people's thoughts of me normally go. It would be good to clear up some things. "That's actually a good idea, Tigress," I replied. Tigress's eyebrow rose up with a small smirk. I don't know how many times I've been frightened and nervous about that smirk.

"You seem surprised."

"No, no, no! I was just-" Before I could "effectively" defend myself, the room erupted in laughter as Tigress comfortingly patted me on the back. Making a fool of myself was something that followed me all the way from the first day of school.

I remember the day pretty vividly compared to the rest. I was a small...er panda at the time; I came to my goose dad's height. I was running around the house, excited about my first day. All my friends that I made around the village would be there. That's probably why my dad had such a hard time putting pants on me. "Po! Get back here!" He screamed as he finally caught up with me and zoomed the pants onto me. I looked down at the pants. They were already stretching at the seams by the looks of it.

"Baba?" I said to my dad, "Why do I have to wear pants?" I remember my dad honking in nervousness as he rubbed the back of his long gooseneck.

"I'll tell you when you're older," He replied. I don't remember how old I was at the time, but I do remember what the first day of school was like. Incredibly funny. My friends were all there, learning our alphabets and numbers like anyone else. For some odd reason, I learned words faster than I learned numbers. I guess that transferred over to my writing skills. Anyways, what made it funny was that all of the kids didn't like the food their parents packed for them, but I did. So I would eat their food for them so they could eat the food that they wanted. I was found out when the parents became suspicious about the kids suddenly liking their food.

Unlike what most people probably think, my childhood life wasn't that horrible. I remember Viper saying she felt sorry that my life in the village was so harsh. In reality, I was the most liked among the villagers. Partly because my goose dad would always have me running errands. So the village knew me pretty well.

What people don't know is how much I traveled. Because my dad's noodle soup was so good, I would get to go on errands outside of the village. And I've traveled far outside of the Valley of Peace. To as far as the coastal line of China. Why bring this up? One day, the Furious Five were training when I noticed Tigress was... rough with her style. "AHH! Easy Tigress!" Monkey shouted as his wooden bo-staff broke in two from the tiger's blow.

"Hmph," Tigress grunted an apology. This caused Master Shifu to break the two up.

"Master Tigress, though your strength was impressive, do be careful when attacking teammates," He ordered. Tigress's face is often hard to figure out. Around this time, which was before Shen attacked us, I began to decode her actions. However, I noticed something immediately when she tried to walk out of the pit. She jerked a bit to the left, dipping a tiny hair every time she stepped on her left foot. As Crane and Viper sparred next, I asked Master Shifu,

"Can Tigress and I be excused for a moment. I need to talk with her... privately." Shifu's left eyebrow rose as he glanced at Tigress. She was behind me, but I could tell by Shifu's face that she was looking confused as well.

"It can't wait until after training?" Shifu asked, probably thinking I needed a 3rd lunch break.

"Depending on how badly it's bent out of shape, no," I replied. We still had forty minutes of training left and I wasn't sure that Tigress could last that long with the injury she had. Shifu's face softened as he looked at Tigress again and then nodded. I turned around and saw Tigress's wide-eyed confused face. This is different from her other confused face. Her "completely clueless" confused face is where she scrunches up her left cheek with a face that just says, "what?" Her wide-eyed face is more like when I hugged her at the pier after defeating Shen.

Anyways, we walked away from the Training Hall and stopped when Tigress told me to. "Po, what are you doing? What do you want to talk about?" I sighed. Nothing got past her.

"Why are you hiding the fact that you're hurt?" I asked. Her wide-eyed shocked face came up.

"How... did you know I was hurt?" She asked slowly. This was a step forward. Most times when she was hurt she wouldn't bother to tell me.

"I know that limp, I've seen a lot of felines with that injury. I could... um... help... if...you're okay with it... Not that you have to or anything I'm just... you know," I stuttered like a bumbling idiot. Tigress crossed her arms and rose her left eyebrow. Her half-lidded eyes always gave me the impression she was either disgusted by me or judging me. But when her devilish smirk came in, that's when I knew I was in a whole different kind of world. I'm in the "the cat will play with her prey" kind of world. A world I kept finding myself in.

"Help me how?" Tigress asked with a smirk.

"Well, there's the... stretch, and then there's the... actually let's just do the stretch," I quickly recovered. I didn't want to tell her about the massage. "So, since we're out in the courtyard, why don't you just sit on the floor?" Tigress looked amused at my nervous behavior enough to trust me. She sat down with her legs stretched out but her upper body propped up on her hands. I sat facing her, asking to lend me her hands. "Now, I'm going to pull you a bit. Let me know when it starts hurting." She gave a short nod. We didn't get far until I heard her grunt. "Okay, now stretch your right side as far as possible." With my help, she did so, "Now, stretch to the left as far as you can." She did so. "Then slowly curl your back out away from me." As she did that, she heard and felt a loud crack.

"AH!" Tigress growled out shortly. I didn't know what kind of face she had on. It looked like a mix between embarrassed, surprised, and relieved. As much as I could tell. For the most part, it just looked like a widening of the eyes.

"Better?" I asked. She nodded her head, not feeling pain in her back anymore. Though she feels no pain in her hands, Tigress does feel pain other places.

"How did you know what to do?" Tigress asked. I scratched the back of my head.

"I um... I had friends," I said shyly. Tigress stood up with me and eyed me suspiciously.

"Po, how did-"

"It was... embarrassing how I learned it," I said. I don't know if I blush noticeably or not, but my discomfort was enough for Tigress to respect the privacy.

But I will write down what happened when I was young here. After that incident, the others started to ask how I knew so much about animals rarely seen in the village, especially felines.

 **Continued...**


	2. It Had to be Snakes

It Had to Be Snakes

* * *

First off, not that many felines walked into the village. Even if they did, they were most likely here for the Jade Palace. (There's nothing else here to travel for). My first encounter with a feline was when I went to a village south of the Valley of Peace, about a two days' journey on foot. My dad and I closed the shop, which he hated to do because of losing money, to get some supplies for the shop (Our supplier was out with the bird flu). When we got to the village, I found many kinds of felines. Small, bit, short, tall, fat, and sleek, and of different colored furs and shades. They all lived in a fairly crowded village I was confused at first because I had heard that felines were very territorial. They were, but mostly with their property, kids, family, and other things. I figured that out when I was making faces with a cute little girl Asian Golden Cat. Suddenly the parent grabbed her and glared daggers into my soul. It was funny afterward because we ended up needing something from the child's mother because she ran a grocery store. Her kid was excited to see me again, so the mother didn't seem to mind.

Anyways, we finally got to the house of a particular feline. She was a very pretty, young adult Chinese leopard [ _There is no difference with the leopards you're familiar with, Sabeeq, other than our leopards have black circles that surround darker tan patches of fur._ ] I was about thirteen at that age and upon seeing me, her whole face brightened up. "Nao! I need you to do a favor for me," My dad bluntly and quite urgently stated. He never told me how he knew her. [ _He later told me that she was his cousin's adopted daughter. They didn't want to tell her she was adopted until she was older than the age was then. It was ridiculous when I heard it because his cousin was a goose as well._ ]

"What's that Mr. Ping?" She asked curiously. Her smile was very warm and bright. She seemed very peppery to me. Surprisingly, she and I were the same height when I was 13, but she was average size for a leopard.

"I need you to watch over my Xiao Po," He replied.

"Dad, I'm old enough to-"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" he stopped me with his feathered wing. I struggled hard not to sneeze. "No back talk. I need to make a few errands that are... too intense for you." That meant he had to barter and he was a very... different person when he bartered. Anyways, I walked into the leopard's house. We greeted each other in the formal fashion, but shortly after that, she smiled excitedly as she grabbed my cheeks and wiggled them around.

"Oh, you're so cute! The girls must love being around you," Nao replied. If they did, I knew nothing about it. Bummer.

"Not really," I scratched the back of my head nervously. She smiled cheekily at me as I walked around her house. it was decorated with lots of fabrics, threads, and dyes. She was a seamstress. It would explain a lot since she wore a very bright pink and purple silk dress with an intricate flower design. "So, how do you know my dad?"

"We're practically family," she replied, "He and my dad know each other very well." For some reason, her dad didn't tell her anything about mine. She walked over to her workplace. "Hey, can you help me with some things? I could really use it."

"Sure," I said eager to help. I helped her for about an hour or so. She was a talker like me, which made me think we really were family. But for me, I liked her tail the most. When I was a kid, of course. I admit it was strange, but my little brain at the time didn't think much of it when I said, "Your tail is really long. I've never seen one like that." Nao stopped her work, folding one of the dresses over, and gasped at what I said.

"You've never seen a feline before?" She asked incredulously. I shook my head. "Oh! I have to show you so many things about them!" She said jumping up from her work.

"Why?"

"Because, knowing you, they'll be attracted to you like you are to food," She said winking her eye at me. I tried to wink back but ended up just blinking. She giggled a bit.

She took me on a tour of the village. I met different felines and cats of all kinds; Snow leopards, leopards, mountain cats, lynx, cats of different names and shapes. I even saw a great big male Asian Lion. "The one thing we don't have around here," Nao later told me as we went back to her house, "Are tigers."

"What do they look like?" I asked. This was before I saw Tigress for the first time.

"They have beautiful black and white stripes, with a pretty orange on their back and across their sides. They're very strong and some of them have the most brilliant and amazing eyes of the felines." She said as if praising an idol. I'll be honest, I thought she was describing a big weirdly striped clown. (Tigress always teases me about this). As we neared her house, Nao started to limp a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just a problem we female cats have from time to time," Nao assuredly smiled, though I could tell she was in pain.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked as I opened the door for her.

"Well, there's... nevermind."

"What is it?"

"No, no, it's a bit embarrassing for you," Nao said, trying to brush the idea away.

"Whatever it is I'll help if it means you'll have less pain," I valiantly said. She looked at me and shook her head, groaning as if she finally gave in to a horrible decision.

"Why are you so cute?" She sighed. "Okay." She walked over to her bed and laid down on her front. "Get on my back."

"Okay!" I excitedly said. I thought of it as a piggyback ride.

"Gently!" She added in. I carefully got onto her back, straddling her back. I was careful not to press my whole weight on her, though. Even though I was small, I still weighed a lot. "Okay, now, I want you to place your hands on the lower part of my back. You should feel a little nub there." I slid my hand against her robe, feeling the spine. She started to emit a weird sound as I did it.

"What's that?"

"That... that was me," Nao said embarrassed a bit.

"How did you do that? What was that, anyway?"

"It's called... well, you've heard of a cat's purr right?" I nodded "Well, bigger felines like me don't necessarily purr. We do this thing called chuffing. It sounds like a very choppy purr." To be honest it sounds like she was softly clearing her throat.

"Why did you do it?" I asked naively.

"Because you're doing a good job," She chuffed a bit more. Finally, I found the nub when she grunted in slight pain. "Good, now slowly massage the area and then press it in a bit."

"Like this?" I asked as I did so, popping the nub into place.

"AHHH!" Nao shouted in surprise and relief. "Haaa, yes, just like that." I felt happy that she was okay. "Po?"

"Yes, Nao?" I said getting off of her.

"If you ever get a feline for a wife, she's going to be lucky to have you," She sighed as she got up. I was confused about what she said until I got older. That's when the trips to her house became very weird for me because I remembered the incident of being on her back. Nao, feeling guilty about making it an uncomfortable memory for me, taught me the stretch to relieve that problem. (I still tease her about it from time to time.) It only comes up about once a year, but that's how I learned about felines' lower back problem.

My experiences with other animals were interesting. I met a monkey while visiting the village in the north, I've been around many different birds, and insects weren't uncommon for me. This made me used to Mantis, Monkey, and Crane's unique attributes.

It was really awesome to meet a real bonafide snake. That's something else the others asked me about. One day, Viper came into the kitchen complaining about a jaw problem. "It just hurts on my left side," she said.

"Let the medic take a look," Mantis declared like a king. Viper's eyes widened as she stopped the bug with her tail.

"Actually, I'm good," She quickly said, but I could tell what was wrong.

"Viper, how about I take a look," I offered. Viper was hesitant, which I could understand, but Tigress vouched for me.

"It's okay, Viper. You'd be surprised how much he knows," She said with a small smile. Viper twisted her head to the side in curiosity.

"How would you know about that?" She asked innocently. Tigress stared in annoyance. "Nevermind." It always amazed me how Tigress could control the whole team through respect (Or rather fear). She slithered over to me. I walked around and placed my hand on a particular part of her jaw.

"Here?"

"Yeah, around that area," She winced, feeling the pain again. I gently massaged the area, feeling the tight muscle relaxing over time. "Ahhh, that's better."

"I hope that helps. Have you been talking a lot? I've only seen that problem with talkative snakes," Po commented.

"I did chat with an old-time friend of mine that was visiting," Viper answered, rubbing her jaw with the tip of her tail. Tigress was intrigued. Why? I don't know, but she always was intrigued when it came to me.

"How do you know that problem only happens with talkative snakes?" Tigress asked. The whole room looked at me. Though I was in the hot spot, I noticed something about her question.

"Do you guys assume that I didn't travel before I was Dragon Warrior?" I asked. Their side glances and unsure stares at each other was answer enough for me. It didn't bother me, I was just curious.

 **Continued...**


	3. A Different Training

A Different Training

* * *

My Dad and I were traveling to the southern tip of the Valley of Peace region. The part which touches the North of Du-Fang. The people and area aren't really different from the rest, however, this area is more humid than the Valley of Peace. Which made it a practical furnace. "Why are we here?" I asked my dad, fanning myself from the oven-like heat.

"We're here to get the silverware that I ordered," my goose dad answered.

"And why couldn't you have them delivered?"

"HA! Are you kidding? For the price that they were asking? Oh, Po, I have so much to teach you about the trade of bargain hunting," He replied. In my mind, it couldn't be different from money hunting. Honestly, there were times my dad's want for profit amazed me. We finally entered a small house. The ceiling was surprisingly low. I mean extremely so. Most houses I've been to are built for larger animals like me, or at least for rhinos. "Hello, Mrs. Yun!"

"Oh, I'm here, Ping," said a very smooth silky voice. There slithering up to us was a dark greenish brown cobra with a black circle on its back surrounded by a white ring. "Oh! Is this your son? My, you've grown," She said like a dear old aunt. The last time she saw me was when I was a baby. "So you're here for the silverware, I take it?"

"Yes," my dad quickly replied. The cobra pointed her tail in the direction and the goose was off. I looked at the snake for a moment, curious about how she moved around without any legs or arms. Mrs. Yun seemed to notice.

"Am I the first snake you've seen?" I nodded eagerly. I was about fourteen and the world outside of the Valley of Peace was still an adventure. An adventure that would cause my panda asthma to act up, but still an adventure.

"How do you move around?" I asked. Mrs. Yun smiled widely as she explained what life was like as a snake.

"And that's what the fangs are for," she finished. I absorbed the information like a dry sponge.

"Wow, I never thought that there were animals like that. I mean, I learned about some of them in school, but I've never seen one up close."

"Yep, and-" She stopped when she felt a pain in her jaw. "Ah, confounded."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, snakes have a very... weird jaw. It can unhinge to strike at bigger enemies. But if you're a talkative snake like me, you tend to have some jaw problems. It's just like a sprain," Mrs. Yun replied.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"Actually, can you just massage this area for me. I would, but my tail isn't the same as a hand," Mrs. Yun asked politely. I went around her and carefully massaged the tender muscle. "Right over... there we go. Nice and easy. Just be careful not to go up where the bulbous part of my head is."

"Why?" I asked.

"That's where my venom is. It's stored and made there. If you were to press that it would make venom shootout," Mrs. Yun replied. One time when I was visiting her, I accidentally pressed it and it did shoot all over the floor. I felt very guilty, but she was just glad that the venom didn't touch or poisoned me.

* * *

 _Sabeeq, You've already read most of the tales of my early life. The one with the burning noodles in my mouth, the laundry incident, and forgetting to put the bean buns in the freezer. However, I know you and your youthful curiosity desires to learn more about my prized student. It started out when I finished the book to my early history. It was well received by my friends and family and even more with others, including you. However, you've wanted to know about a certain aspect of my life that consumed much of my effort but not at all of my time. I will tell you about my prized student._

* * *

Secret journal date number-45329

Writer: Po

A lot of things have changed after finally finishing my 'self-book'. Tigress keeps teasing me about thinking she was a clown. It was funny, though. When I first saw her during her fight with Boar, I could see a true warrior.

But I need to get to the point of this secret journal. I've started to keep this because of two reasons. One, there are things that have happened that I need to write down because it hurts to keep them inside. Two, When the time comes that I feel comfortable about sharing these things, I need to remember everything.

The main reason I've started this separate journal is due to my side 'life' as a teacher. After the incident with Kai, I've taught and helped many people with their awesome Kung Fu skills and techniques. My biggest accomplishments were the Furious Five. With some encouragement and help, I was able to train them to their prime peak. "Again!" I shouted at Monkey as he continued throwing the punches in an unpredictable fashion at the new punching dummy. This one could punch back harder than expected. "Don't think about the next punch. Your mind has to be a constant unpredictable lottery," I couched.

"Oo-AH!" The simian shouted as he knocked the dummy over to me. It was heavier than the last so it knocked me over to the ground.

"Good job," I wheezed.

"Sorry, P- I mean Master Po," Monkey apologized as he helped me up.

"It's nothing, but did you feel like you did better?" I asked. I always asked this because I wanted to know what they thought of the training.

"Yeah, I feel... much better."

"That's good," I smiled as Monkey went to take a break. I walked outside of the Training Hall where Crane was standing on a ball floating in a small pool of water while pieces of paper were being thrown at him. He would catch them and throw them to the sides into buckets. Shifu was doing the throwing.

"How's it going, Crane?" I asked.

"This is really... a challenge," He strained.

"Good, when you feel comfortable with two feet on the ball, we'll do one foot," I smirked. Crane's eyes widened and he lost his balance. He stumbled over into the pool, splashing water all around.

"Or not," Shifu sighed.

"Sorry, Master Po and Master Shifu," Crane respectfully said. I sighed with a smile. The master thing was something I don't think I'll ever get used to.

"That's okay. Take a break and we'll go back to the balancing beam," I instructed. The bird bowed and walked away.

"I must say, Dragon Warrior. This training that you have the Furious Five doing is quite incredible. I'm shocked to see their progress advancing so well," Shifu commented.

"I know, it's awesome isn't?" I replied. Shifu seemed to notice my hesitation, though. I said it as if I was talking casually. He knew why I was this way. I walked back into the Training Hall with him and opened the door to see the main problem on my mind.

Crane had the balance, Monkey had unpredictability, Mantis had weak points that were trained on by working his agility and pressure point knowledge, and Viper worked on her flexibility. All of these things, I could train them to do. To be the best them they could be.

Except for one.

Tigress.

I had her work on her meditation and tranquility. That's all I could come up with to stall her. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I should test her strength because that who she was. But there was something different about Tigress. Even with traditional strength training, she kept saying it wasn't really challenging her as much. Shifu could train her, but both he and I knew it wasn't improving her. Something was just wrong and I couldn't figure it out. "It's going to drive me crazy," I said, shutting the door to the Training Hall as Shifu and I walked to the barracks. "She's getting stronger, but she's also getting weaker at the same time," I muttered. I looked to my old master, "Has she always been like this?"

"When I was training her, I was very nitpicking about certain things. I wanted her to be perfect like me, but... after seeing you train the others the way you have... I'm starting to see that wasn't the right decision," He answered woefully.

"You don't have to blame yourself, Master Shifu. But she should be able to relearn and train herself," I sighed in frustration. Shifu thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe it's both the student and teacher that need relearning," Shifu suggested. I perked my ear up at his suggestion. "You're trying to train the others to be the best version of 'them' they could be, correct?" I nodded. "Well, with Tigress. It could be that you have a wrong idea of who she is." I thought about his idea. That could be it, but that also meant another thing.

"That also means that Tigress doesn't know who she is," I replied. Shifu took a deep breath and sighed in agreement. I could tell he was feeling guilty. "When did she start to change? I heard Viper and Crane tell me that she used to smile and laugh a lot when she was a teen."

"I guess it would be around the time the others officially became part of the Furious Five. There was always a designated unofficial leader. I guess the responsibility of the position changed her," Shifu considered. I had never thought about it, but it could be a reason. But it if was, I couldn't just tell Tigress to not be the leader, especially when she technically wasn't. So we had to figure out a different way.

 **Continued...**


	4. Tiger Lady

Tiger Lady

 **Surprisingly, this is turning out to be a much shorter story than I thought it would be.**

* * *

I was in my room, thinking about the ordeal I was in. I had to figure out how to train Tigress fast before she would catch on. She probably already knew at that point. I sighed, looking through scrolls and scrolls about any kind of knowledge on tigers. Surprisingly, the scrolls weren't written to distinguish between animal-kind, only age, and experience, which frustrated me to no end. As I placed the last scroll back down on my desk, I rose from my chair to answer a knock on the screen door. "Tigress?"

"Master Po," She bowed respectfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Tigress, you can stop calling me that. It's weird enough the others are," I muttered, walking into my room.

"I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help you," she said. I stared at her suspiciously. She was beating around the bush, something wasn't right.

"Tigress, what's up? You're being dodgy with me," I said. Tigress drew a deep sigh.

"I know that something is wrong with my training," She answered, "I can tell that you're troubled by something that I'm doing or-"

"It's not your fault, Tigress," I quickly interrupted.

"Then what?" she asked impatiently. I sighed. I looked over to my tea set that one of the Kung Fu masters gave me. I motioned for Tigress to sit down as I drew some tea out for both of us. It was still steaming from the last batch I made. It was... weird to be with Tigress like this. I felt like I was the more mature one in the conversation for some reason. I struggled to say the words. I finally sighed again, placing my cup of tea down after a few sips.

"Tigress, I don't know how to train you, specifically." She seemed confused and a bit heart-broken. "Shifu and I are trying our best to find a way that we can train you to be the best we know you can be, but we've never seen or had experience with anyone that's like you." Tigress's ears sagged a bit as did her shoulders. I hated seeing her like this. "And it's my fault for it." Her ear twisted up before she registered what I said.

"What do you mean?"

"I always thought I knew you the best, but... I don't," I sighed. Tigress offered her small smile.

"Po, while I may be a difficult case for you, I know that you're trying your best to help me," She gently smiled. I gave a brave smile back. We both knew that it would be difficult to figure out a way to help her. And my personal want for her to be better than the others was the added bonus frustration in this situation. I decided to change the dreary subject.

"Tigress, what made you change when the Furious Five formed?" I asked. Tigress's eyebrow rose in confusion. "I mean, I hear stories about how you were different when you were a teen. What changed?"

"What _have_ you heard?" She asked very frankly. I nervously searched around for a nice answer.

"Well, I... um... heard that you used to be... well, happier," I stuttered.

"Are you saying I'm not now?" She asked with the smallest curl on her lips.

"No, no, no, no, I'm just...um... what I mean to say is... you're much different from that time. What happened?" Tigress seemed to think about it for a moment before gently sipping her tea.

"I grew up," She simply stated. That didn't help me at all. She could tell it frustrated me. Tigress always seems to enjoy seeing me flustered and frustrated. It's strange, but I'm okay with it. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, honestly, I don't know you that much, as much as Master Shifu, for example," I explained. Tigress nodded in agreement. It was silent for a moment before I said to her, "Tigress? I promise that I'll find a way to train you better. You can count on it," I determinedly said. She gently smiled again.

"I don't doubt that."

The day after next, I received a letter from a friend about three days away from here (A few hours if one flew). He and I used to pal around the village before he moved with his family. He was a very eccentric person, animated as well. I don't know if that's because he was a bunny or because he just ate a lot of sweets. Anyways, we started messaging each other. It was a good distraction from the situation with Tigress. But then I got a letter from him that was incredible. I asked him previously how the people around him in the village were. This was the message:

 _Everyone is great and friendly with a few people who are the village idiots. We have sweet old mothers, crazy people, aggressive vendors like Mrs. Ping. No one out of the ordinary. Except for one tiger lady that is just the most precious thing in the world. She regularly visits me to see how I'm doing, since I can't work for a while because of my broken leg. She's very excitable and spry. She'll often lift me up and hug me tightly. She's immensely strong so it is a particular problem. Everyone's day is brighter when she's around._

 _"Tiger Lady"_?

 **To Be Continued...**


	5. Let There Be Tigers

There Be Tigers

* * *

My eyes burst out when I saw the words _Tiger lady_. I quickly wrote back. Were there more like her, does she know any tigers or a village of tigers around? My questions ran for a mile. This person could be the answer to my problem. After an agonizing time of waiting, I finally received the letter that I was expecting.

 _She says she from a village a little ways from here. She and her parents moved when there was a massive plague that swept through their village. But she's been back there and while there aren't as many tigers as there used to be, they are still in high numbers there._

 _[I would later discover a similar plague passed through Tigress's village taking the lives of her parents, Sabeeq]_

It was a dream come true for me. When I heard the news, I wrote to my friend to tell the tiger lady not to move until I got there. I would go to the tiger village to find out how to training Tigress the way she needed to be. I excitedly started packing my bags when Master Shifu came into my room. "You seem excited."

"I am," I answered him, "I just-" I quickly stopped what I was doing, looked out of the window and the door, and pushed Master Shifu into my room. "I just figured out that my friend has a tiger that can show me where a village of them is." My old master's eyes widened. He stroked his beard as he said,

"Have you told Master Tigress?"

"No, but-"

"Good, don't." I was confused. This would not only help with Tigress's training, but it would also help her understand where she came from. "If she learns about your trip and figures out your training, it might not feel like a challenge for her. And to protect her from anything dangerous...emotionally and psychologically speaking. It was hard for you to face your past. Imagine hers. She has no idea why she was left at the orphanage. Also, she may not be accepted by her own." That was logic I couldn't argue.

I sighed with a groan. I hated keeping things a secret, especially from Tigress. Mostly because she would always beat it out of me, but it hurt emotionally to see her feeling left out. "Okay, you'll have to back me up to make it look convincing though. You know how much I mess up at keeping secrets," I replied.

"What secrets?" Said a voice at the door.

"DAHHHH!" I jumped up and landed on my butt, gazing at the female tiger at the front door. "Tigress, when did you get there?!"

"I just arrived, Master Po," She said, formally bowing her head. "What secrets are you talking about?" I was going to speak, but I quickly shut my mouth. Tigress's emotionless stare examined me. Finally, Master Shifu came to my rescue.

"Master Tigress, the Dragon Warrior and I were just discussing a trip that we will be taking shortly. It is a private matter," He replied. Tigress looked surprised that I was actually involved in something serious. But then there was that look. The look I hate to see on her. Her shoulders sag a bit for a moment, her eyes glance to the floor, and her cat ears lower for a moment. This is all small, like really small. To anyone else, even Shifu, they wouldn't know the difference. But I did. I knew her that much. Tigress respectfully bowed to her master as she left the room. "She doesn't seem to have any problem," Shifu said almost naïvely. I gave a short brief smile. He really didn't know his adopted daughter that much I thought.

The next day, Master Shifu and I packed our bags and were on our way down to the village where my bunny friend was. My dad packed enough food for both of us, which I had to carry. I really need to stop eating so much. We left the Furious Five to care for the Palace and the village with a replacement master as a backup. As we left, I could see the stern hardened expression in Tigress's face. I knew she wasn't really angry, just confused and frustrated. Maybe even betrayed.

We traveled to the village, finally stopping for the night as the stars came out. Surprisingly for Shifu, I didn't stop until nighttime, not even stopping for food. I really wanted to see this village. As we camped, Master Shifu saw me writing in a journal I brought to take some notes on the Tigers and our trip. I normally don't take notes, but this was something I really needed to pin down right. "You're writing our 'adventure' down?" Shifu mused.

"I want to make sure that I can get everything I need to make absolutely sure that Tigress's training is making her excel," I quickly stated, so focused on writing.

"Just make sure that she doesn't see it when we get back," Shifu said. I stopped writing and looked at Master Shifu with a perplexed stare.

"Why?"

"If she figures out the style or training you have planned, she might only do it mechanically. Half of the training is trying to make the student learn how to take the unpredictable. That and she would be _more_ hurt if she learned that we went to see a tiger village without her." My eyes widened.

"So you did notice her hurt feelings," I mentioned. Shifu gave me a deadpanned look.

"I'm old, not blind. And I did raise her," Shifu remarked. "I only said what I said because she didn't react as badly as I thought she would," Shifu answered bluntly. I shrugged, signaling that I didn't know what to expect from the red panda anymore. "Come on, let's get some sleep," Shifu finished.

The next day, we arrived early to the village where my bunny friend was. I quickly learned where his house was and found him. We ate breakfast there and went to find the tiger lady. We found a large two-story house with blue banners running across the front of the house. My bunny friend knocked on the door and in front of us was a pretty tiger lady. She was much shorter than Tigress, coming up to the black part on my chest. She was noticeably bulkier and stouter than I thought a tiger would be. Whether that bulk was due to muscle or fat, I didn't want to test out, fearing a skull cracking punch, which would still be a bit cool.

She was a bit rounder in the face, cutely pudgy. But her waistline was just as slim as Tigress. Her legs were covered by her plain pink dress. "Hello!" She said in high-pitched excited voice. Her friendly voice reminded me of Viper. "I'm Pengyou. You must be the Dragon Warrior and Master Shifu," She smiled, bowing out of habit and respect.

"It is nice to see you as well, Pengyou," Master Shifu returned.

"Please come into my house. Let me make you some food."

"Actually they just-"

"We'll gladly enjoy your food," I interrupted my bunny friend. Master Shifu just sighed as I stuffed my mouth with the delicious desserts that the tiger made. "Your cooking is very good," I said with a mouthful of food. Pengyou just smiled with a cute giggle.

"Ms. Pengyou, Po's friend said that you came from a village of tigers. We were interested if you could take us there," Shifu asked, getting straight to the point. Pengyou grimaced a bit.

"I would, but I have some orders to fill in before I do. I have one last job to do if you don't mind. It's for my work," she replied kindly.

"No rush," I said, swallowing the last piece of food in my mouth. She smiled as she went to the back of the house to pull out a heavy leather apron. "By the way, what do you work as?" I asked drinking some juice she made.

"A blacksmith," She replied. I spat my drink up all over Master Shifu, who didn't look too happy about it.

"Hehe, sorry, but you work as a blacksmith?" I asked again. She nodded eagerly.

"How are you able to do so? Metalworking is a hard job," Shifu pointed out. Just then, Pengyou picked up a big piece of metal that looked as heavy as lead, about the size of a head pillow. She simply shrugged as she lifted the hunk of metal over her shoulder.

"This is nothing. If anything I'm weak compared to other tigers in Qiang-du. That's the village I lived in," Pengyou replied.

"Well, we'll help you if you need anything," I offered, still bewildered that the tiger could lift something that easily.

"Don't worry, I've got it," She said with a smile and not a strain in her voice. As she left, I grabbed Shifu's shoulders and smiled with joy.

"We've finally found what I've been looking for!" I nearly shouted.

 **Continued...**


	6. Village of Qiang-Du

The Village of Qiang-Du

* * *

The red panda gently took my hands off of him. "Po, please calm down. We don't know for sure."

"Did you not see the kind awesome powerlifting tiger?! That's proof enough for me!" I said excitedly. "And she said that there were tigers stronger than her."

"Yes, but why haven't we seen more of them?" Master Shifu asked. This made me stop for a second. "A people that strong and powerful should have more warriors and an advancing empire."

"Maybe they're just very peace loving?" I suggested. Shifu shook his head in disbelief. I kind of agreed with him, though. People with that much power rarely tend to do nothing with it. It took 2 hours before Pengyou was finished with her work. "Pengyou, the tigers in your village. You said they were stronger than you?"

"Oh yes. I'm actually a little below average for my size," She said, rubbing off the dirt from her heads.

"Size?" Master Shifu asked.

"Well, strength is determined by age and different sizes for us. I'm short and stout, and I should be able to lift you, Dragon Warrior. But I don't think I can," The nice tiger smiled. Tigress could lift me, but only for a few minutes.

"Just Po is fine. But that doesn't seem like a lot. Compared to what you're lifting now," I replied. Pengyou seemed confused but then realized her mistake.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. I mean with one hand," She answered. "I could easily lift you with two but not one hand. Most tigers my size would be able to." Now that was something that Tigress couldn't do.

"Pengyou, with strength like that, one would think that the Tigers would try to conquer China," Shifu stated.

"Oh, no, no, no. Tigers may have a lot of strength, but generally, they're the nicest people around. While we are competitive, we don't normally fight each other, unless you count wrestling and martial arts competitions," She replied.

"Wait, are they nice like you?" I asked to which she nodded. I looked at Shifu with a mildly angered face.

"What?" He asked.

"What did you do to Tigress?" I questioned. Shifu rolled his eyes.

"I did nothing."

"That could be the problem."

"Tigress changed by herself. She was already changing by the time I noticed."

"DID you notice?" I asked innocently. Shifu was about to answer but found himself caught. He never did notice Tigress's difference in character or personality. Back then, he really didn't focus that much on Tigress, only his own hurt. I felt sorry for him, "Master I didn't mean-"

"No, you're right, Po. I was... unattentive most times," Shifu sighed. He looked at Pengyou, who seemed as clueless as ever. "So these tigers are very friendly?"

"Of course, and if you go to the village, I know they'll like you two a lot," Pengyou grinned mischievously. Shifu and I glanced at each other for a moment.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You'll see," Pengyou winked. Playful mischief. It seemed to be a growing thing among felines, especially tigers.

"So how are the men and women there?" I asked. I wanted to know this FIRST before going. If I did something bad with the men, then I could be clawed out. If I did something wrong with the women, I _would_ be clawed out by the men and gutted alive by the women.

"Oh, the men are very... flirtatious at times," Pengyou giggled with a cute slight blush, "The tiger women can be very... playful at times, but are very confident most times. The men treat them like queens and the women boast about their guys to each other. They have a very... fiery passion for each other."

"*cough* um... thanks for that," I said uncomfortably. Shifu smirked at my blushing face as he asked,

"So the normal tiger woman is very confident and self-efficient?"

"Yes, and the man is more of a comforter as well as a provider. Most times," She added. Shifu seemed confused. "The gender roles can be mixed up sometimes because the son in the house needs raising by the man and the same for the daughter." That made some sense. Children are more impressionable than adults.

"So do the men workout or train alot?" I asked.

"Oh yes. In fact, most male tigers become trainers for far-off lands. When a tiger moves, they move far. Others just want a good competition or want to protect their families. So men and women train very hard."

"That much I know," I smiled, thinking about Tigress. I shook my head when I saw Shifu's knowing smirk flash my way. "Anyways, could you show us to your village?"

"Of course, let me get my things and we'll be off. It's about a four-day journey."

"That means more food!" I excitedly said. Pengyou giggled humorously as Shifu sighed with a groan.

* * *

Pengyou told us more about the tigers on the trip to the village. From what I could gather, Tigers were a very excitable bunch, prone to anger but it usually dissipated through wrestling, Kung Fu, and hard extraneous work that they normally did. A few of them included lumber, metalwork, mining, and construction, mostly for houses. They do a lot of manual labor, only a few of them are business accountants or bureau workers. "Most tigers prefer a job that gets them outside," Pengyou explained.

"Or underground," I pointed out.

"Right, anyways."

"Should we know anything before we get there. Anything that could... set them off?" I asked Pengyou. The small tiger thought for a moment.

"Just be able to fight them when they ask," She shrugged nonchalantly. I was still worried. The Tigers lived in a deciduous forested place, right where the icy cold mountain in the back comes right against the village. It was fall so the beautiful green, yellow and bright red and orange leaves were coming down. I found it interesting how the forest was still thick with trees. "The tigers also replant the trees. For every tree cut down, they plant two," Pengyou answered my question. When we finally got to the village, there was a large barrier made of hardened gray brick. I gulped as I saw two of the biggest meanest looking male tigers I've seen in my life. First, they were a whole head taller than me. They could easily eat a meal on his head. They glared at me specifically, seemingly forgetting about the shorter panda. They smiled uneasily at me. "Oh, stop scaring them guys. They're friends of mine." Pengyou pouted. The big tigers chortled loudly.

"Sorry, little one," The left tiger affectionately smiled, "But we couldn't help but notice the big panda friend and how young he is."

"The women will like you very much," said the right tiger.

"Wh..whh why?" I stuttered. The two tigers just smiled at each other.

"What about me?" Shifu asked, with a raised eyebrow. The left tiger stroked his chin.

"The children will definitely like you," He replied. Before Shifu could ask, the two tigers opened the massive doors into the village. The houses were massive, made of brick, seeming to stretch between two or four stories. On a little hill in the center of the village was the most decorated house. Tigers were everywhere, along with ducks, pigs, and the normal bunnies. But the majority were tigers of all size. It was like seeing different versions of Tigress. I saw happy-giddy ones, mischievous ones, solemn ones, sad-looking ones. Short, tall, fat, sleek, young, old. They were all there. The one thing I noticed was the village wasn't compact like other villages and I soon realized why. Two male tigers passed by, lifting a fallen tree with the diameter the size of my belly. A female tiger carried two large burlap sack that made a clanking noise every time she walked. A tiger child happily carried a chair which was weird considering he looked like a baby, not older than 2 years old. The village needed space because of the large things the Tigers would move around.

"Is it everything you expected?" Pengyou asked excitedly.

"Hehe, it's everything I thought it would be," I sighed in awe. Then I looked to my left and saw a slim male teenage tiger gently kissing the hand of a female tiger. I smiled but soon blushed as I saw them start to kiss... quite passionately. Pengyou giggled at my reddened face.

"I told you they were passionate," She smiled cheekily. I nervously chuckled a bit. Then a loud squeal came towards us as we neared the large central house.

"PENGYOU!" Screamed a team of happy feminine voices. A group of lady tigers circled the stout tiger and lovingly hugged her while we stood out as happy spectators. They talked about how things were, how the business was. But then Pengyou made a gesture that made all of them turn to me. Frozen in panic, I slowly waved my hand with a goofy grin.

"Hi," I shakily said. They stormed me, circled around me, and attacked me with questions and statements.

"Oh, he's so cute!"

"He's definitely a handsome one."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"You're very warm," Said one female tiger, hugging me. They all, in turn, started to hug the air out of me.

"Ladies Please!" I wheezed for air. As they released me, they continued to ask me a lot of questions while Pengyou tried to calm them down. They also gave a lot of flirty looks and cheeky grins. Mischief was definitely heavy in the tiger category. Then I remembered, Master Shifu. I looked over and saw him with a friend. A tiger child, a curious toddler by the looks of it, found an interest to Master Shifu's tail. It started playing with it. As Shifu moved his tail out of the way, the tiger would go with it. Pretty soon, more than one tiger child showed up. Before Shifu knew it, he was running from a black, white, and orange litter of tiger children.

"HEEELLLP!" He shouted. I laughed at the sight while still being questioned by the female tigers. Finally, they all became silent as they cleared the way for an older, shorter tiger. She was accompanied with her older husband, who was skinny but still looked fierce and tough. She, on the other hand, was bent over a bit. They both held a smile. I could tell they were respected from the other tigers so I bowed. Shifu was still having a problem with the tiger children.

"Welcome, traveler, to our village. I see you have taken akin to our female tigers," Said the smaller old lady. I nervously laughed, which made the older dude smile as well.

"I'm Po, and the one that's running is Master Shifu. We came here to learn about the tigers. I have a friend of mine that I'm trying to teach and I need to know her... 'tiger' background," I explained. The two couple nodded.

"I'm Qiang-Du, descendent of the ancestors who formed this village. And this is my wife: Jiānqiáng de Zûmû. We just call her Zumu," The old male spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Zûmû. Zǔmǔ is Chinese for grandmother and the old woman looked the part. She had a very kind warm face. Not a hint of mischief in her smile. "Please stay at our place."

"That would be nice. Um... but could you help me figure out how to get the kids to stop chasing my master?" I asked, seeing Shifu still trying to run from the kids. The girls and the old couple laughed.

 **Continued...**


	7. Pushing Down the Wall

Pushing Down the Wall

* * *

"I apologize for our villages' kids. They've never seen a tail much like yours before," Zumu smiled. Shifu gave a small smile but was still grumbling about the children. Then his grumbling turned into a genuine smile.

"I should be used to it. I've had felines as kids myself," He smiled at the memory.

"So why have you journeyed all the way from the Jade Palace?" Qiang-Du replied.

"I need to teach a friend of mine and... well, her story is very... tragic. You see, her parents dropped her off at an orphanage with mostly ducks, bunnies, and pigs. She was the only tiger," I explained. The old couple's faces saddened. "She was picked up and adopted by Master Shifu and taught by him. But now that she's older and grown up, we want her to find her own style that suits her. The only problem is-

"Tigers are not seen often in your village," Qiang-Du guessed. I nodded. "It's most likely because of the plague that nearly wiped us out that she was there. We lost a lot of tigers because of that."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Shifu said sympathetically.

"What stopped the plague?"

"Actually, a turtle did. A man by the name of Oogway," Zumu replied, "Perhaps you heard of him." Shifu and I looked at each other speechless amazement. Oogway was here? Why didn't he tell us? Shifu sighed.

"There were many things that Master Oogway did not confide in us. Not even me."

"But seriously!" I exclaimed. "Why wouldn't he say anything?!" It was very confusing.

"Anyways," Qiang-Du said, moving on from the incident, "What do you need to know about us tigers that will help your tiger friend? Why didn't you bring her here?" I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

"Well, she's never seen a tiger before and... a village of them would probably overwhelm her. We didn't want her to feel like an outsider among her own people," I explained. The two nodded in agreement. "But I would like to know about the tiger's strength. It seems that every one of you is very strong."

"Yes, tigers have an incredible amount of strength. We normally use it for helping others in far off places, as I'm sure that Pengyou has told you," Qiangdu replied.

"Usually?" Shifu asked, suspiciously.

"There, of course, bad eggs," Zumu sighed. "They typically don't last long because they try to do things on their own. It's a tiger's pride thing."

"Hmm," Shifu said, thinking to himself.

"So how did this friend of yours grow up in the orphanage. It must have been very difficult for her," Zumu said sadly.

"It was," Shifu answered. "Her power and strength were unseen before. They had to lock her in a steel door because she was-"

"Different," I finished, a bit angry at the memory, "She was just different. She wasn't like the ducks or bunnies. They didn't know what to do with her."

"Poor child," Zumu said sympathetically.

"She did overcome it," Shifu replied, easing her fears, "But now we're starting to think that suppressing her strength may have not been a good idea."

"I see. And you came here for knowledge of how we train our children?" Qiang-Du guessed. Shifu and I nodded. The old man stood up and walked over to a backdoor in the small dining room. It opened up to a courtyard with a tall mediumly buff tiger. He wasn't as massive as the guard tigers, but he was about as big as Tai-Lung in muscle. He also had a lighter coat of fur. He was doing pushups with massive steel weights on his back. He slid the weights off of his back upon seeing Qiang-Du opening the door and stood up. "This is Wang. Our grandson and future teacher for the village. Wang, this is Master Shifu from the Jade Palace and the Dragon Warrior."

"You can just call me Po," I said with a smile. Big tiger smiled back, seeming to like my mannerism. Wang bowed as he said,

"It's a great honor to meet you. I heard your arrival from the others. And the Dragon Warrior is definitely a warrior I've... never seen before."

"I get that a lot," I smiled with a goofy laugh. "How are you guys so strong?"

"Muscles and working out. A lot, it's a natural tiger instinct," Wang explained. That would explain Tigress's obsession with training. Now it didn't make me so worried.

"How do you guys train?" I asked. Wang showed me the normal techniques that tigers would use. There was something that seemed to bother Shifu the further we went through the tour.

"Wang, there's something I've noticed," Shifu spoke up, calling the tiger's attention, "You don't train as a typical Kung Fu warrior would."

"You're right," Wang simply said, "That's because most tigers don't train like that. Most warriors train to punch a hole through a brick wall, right? We train to push the wall down."

"THAT IT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, grabbing Shifu's shoulders and smiled widely at him. "That's the problem! It's not Tigress's form or fighting that needs changing. It's her _overall_ strength! She doesn't need more control of her strength. She needs to use her strength more!" Then I released Shifu and hugged Wang tightly. "Thank you!" Then I released him. "Wow, it's like hugging a warm wall of muscle," I commented. Wang laughed heartily, patting me on the back which knocked the air out of my lungs.

"I like this panda," He laughed.

"Most felines do," Shifu smirked as I rubbed the back of my neck. As Wang continued showing techniques, a very disturbing thought came to my mind. "Thank you, Wang, for teaching us your ways," Shifu bowed.

"It is my pleasure to help a fellow tiger in any way I can," Wang replied with a bow.

"Maybe you can come to the Jade Palace to visit. You and Pengyou?" I suggested. Wang smirked a bit. I hadn't realized that I was talking a lot about Tigress during the tour, but Wang picked up on it.

"Yes, I would like to meet this Tigress. She sounds like a very interesting person," He smiled mischievously. The kind of smile that made it seem he like was interested in Tigress in... a different way. But when he saw my worried face, he laughed. "I'm just kidding, Po. I would love to see your village sometime. Sounds like they need more tigers around."

"That is a definite yes," I sighed. I looked at Shifu, who was smirking at me for some unknown reason. We decided to stay at the village for a while to properly understand its culture. Anything to help Tigress was worth the wait. But the day after Wang showed us the teaching techniques, I laid on my mat very disturbed and worried. Shifu noticed this, meditating by the moonlit silkscreen.

"What is it, Po?" He asked.

"There's something that's really bothering me. If everything that Wang said is true and we haven't used them on Tigress, then it can only mean one thing."

"That is?" I paused for a moment, trying to find the words. Well, less harsh words.

"Tigress is weak," I said daringly.

 **Continued...**


	8. Battered and Bruised

Battered and Bruised

* * *

Shifu glared at me as if I had cursed him. I would too if Tigress was my adopted daughter. "Why would you say that?"

"In comparison, I mean. You saw what the children could do. Imagine if she had that strength now. And I don't think she knows she has it. Or-"

"She doesn't have it yet," Shifu finished. I sighed in dismay.

"The only thing making me think otherwise is that 'yet' though," I replied. Shifu was silent for a moment before saying,

"Tigress has managed to overcome obstacles before. I imagine she will now." I nodded in agreement. "Should we bring Pengyou or Wang back to help Tigress?"

"No, I'll learn everything I can from the rest and then go back," I said, standing up from my mat. "I'll be back. I need to take a walk." Shifu nodded as he rested onto his mat. I walked out the silkscreen door. The door led right into the dining hall. I went to the backyard of the house, which was the practice area for Wang. I looked up at the stars. How was I going to do this? I couldn't act as if Tigress's situation was okay, but I couldn't figure out how to make her stronger. "What am I going to do?"

"Po, are you okay?" A kind voice asked. I looked behind me and saw the short cute tiger who was our guide. I smiled at Pengyou.

"I'm fine, Pengyou. I'm just trying to figure out how to make one of my friends stronger," I replied cryptically.

"You mean Master Tigress?" Pengyou guessed. I stopped my entire self, looking at the tiger. "I overheard you and Master Shifu talking about it." I sighed, mentally cursing myself for being so open about it. "I still think that Master Tigress is strong."

"You've heard about her?"

"Who hasn't?" Pengyou exclaimed a bit, "The people here are just too far from the Jade Palace to hear about her. But I still think that she's strong."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Just because she doesn't train or have the full strength of a tiger doesn't mean she isn't a tiger. She finds other ways to overcome her enemies when she's faced with a hard situation. For me, she wasn't a symbol of strength, but determination. I've heard of her story and I thought anyone in that circumstance would give up. But she didn't." I stared at the tiger for a while then smiled. She was right. Tigress overcame any kind of obstacle before. This one would be just another one.

"Thank you, Pengyou," I replied, graciously. She bowed. She surprised me with a hug around my waist and then walked away. My bunny friend was right. She was a delight to have.

Soon our stay at the village of tigers came to an end. Pengyou showed us back to her village and then we traveled back to ours. "Ah, home sweet home," I sighed in relaxation. Then we hiked up the dreadful stairs of death.

"How can you defeat all these villains that come your way and still have a problem with stairs?" Shifu asked.

"I don't ask why you only like Oolong tea, now do I!?" I panted in excruciating pain. ( **A/N:** **I just learned that this tea actually exists)** We finally got to the top of the mountain. We found the Furious Five and the replacement master (It was Master Chao) training in the courtyard with their practices. Except for one. I went into the Training Hall and saw Tigress mediating peacefully. "Tigress?" She turned around and saw me with widened eyes. She jumped to her feet and bowed.

"Master Po. You have returned from your travels," She stated formally. I walked up to her and smiled excitedly at her. From her look, I think my smile scared her.

"I have figured out how to train you," I said eagerly.

"Dragon Warrior, don't you want to rest for a moment?" Shifu asked. I forgot he was right next to me.

"Nope! This needs to be done now!" I said, almost forcefully. I did not want the ideas in my head to leave me. Within minutes, Tigress was doing weight training that was almost beyond her. There were two large weights that looked like massively huge bells that I rigged up for her to lift when she pulled on them. She strained to lift them both up when she extended her hands. "Come on, you have to do fifty of those.

"But-"

"Fifty!" I said both excitedly and forcefully. Her face was shocked. I've never been this way with anyone before. Then I started to be outright daring. "Or is the second-rate warrior giving up?" That ticked her off. She growled as she pulled on the massive coiled wire rope and slowly lifted the weights. "That's two." I left her and went to do something else. When I finished with that task, I heard a loud snap followed by a massive clang! I ran over to where Tigress was and saw the rope had snapped. Tigress was on the floor, panting. "I'll have to get better wires." I simply commented. "How much did you do?"

"25," She gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Come on, you have some more work to do," I coldly said. She stumbled and followed me to the courtyard. The others were taking a break. She saw a brick wall, about ten feet tall and wide, that was reinforced by brick triangles at the back so it wouldn't fall backward. "I want you to knock this wall down."

"Yes, Master Po."

"But, I want you to push it down. I don't want to see a small hole the size of your fist or hand. I want you to push it down," I clarified. Her eyes widened at me. "Or do you not think you're strong enough for it?" I teased her. She glared at me and planted her hands on the wall and began to strain. I found bricks specially made to be harder than ironwood and the reinforced backside made it 10 times harder. "It will take some time. Keep trying," I said, walking to the Hall of Heroes to find Master Shifu. "Master Shifu, do we have any more wire rope? Stronger than the one for the large iron bells," I explained.

"Yes, I'll see to it. Po, are you sure what you're doing is going to work?"

"No," I honestly said, "But I'm sure that Tigress will overcome it," I smiled confidently.

* * *

I walked down the barracks to check on a patient in the medical aide. Tigress's muscles were very sore, so Mantis was tending to them. I thought I pushed her too hard too fast. I was blaming myself when I started overhearing a talk between Tigress and the others. "Urgh!" Tigress growled.

"Stay still, this will only hurt for a moment," Mantis counseled.

"Thank you Mantis," Tigress sighed.

"I don't know what Po learned over that trip, but he seems to be tormenting you all of a sudden," Viper mentioned. That was an exaggerated way of putting it, but I was starting to agree.

"Maybe we can talk to Master Shifu and ask Po to lighten up on you," Crane agreed, "That way he doesn't take out... whatever it is on you."

"Yeah, I don't know what that panda is thinking," Monkey remarked. I was about to go away, feeling more guilty about myself. But-

"I understand the concern you all have," She said with the sound of a smile, "But what Master Po is doing is actually working."

"What?" They all exclaimed.

"I can feel something different. I think Po knows that there's something more inside of me. I'm willing to believe that."

"But Tigress, what about your body?"

"To be honest, I haven't been sore in a while. It's nice to know that my hands can still somewhat feel," She smirked a bit, her silhouette from the silkscreen suggested she was looking at her hand. "You all know that Po wouldn't intentionally hurt me. I feel stronger after today. I know now there's something more. And if Po believes that I can move mountains, I'm willing to try." That helped renew my spirits. I tried my best to walk away and leave Tigress in peace.

The early next morning, I woke up and went to the courtyard. Before anyone else was up, Tigress was at the wall, trying hard to push it down. I could see something wrong with what she was doing. She was actually holding back. I walked up to her. "Tigress," I called, making her stop, "I know that you've been taught to control your rage and anger. But that doesn't mean you always have to hold your strength back." Tigress nodded, but she sighed afterward.

"Po," She said, dropping every ounce of confusion, frustration, and questioning into that word, "Do you really think I can do this?"

"You seemed very confident last night," I added, seeing her surprised and embarrassed face. "Why is this different?"

"You heard us?"

"For a moment I thought I pushed you too hard too fast," I clarified, rubbing the back of my neck. "But I know you can do it." I started walking back to the hall, "You've overcome obstacles before, why stop now?" Tigress's determined face radiated from her as she bowed and went back to pushing the wall. I needed to wait to see if there was any real progress.

In a month, however, things started to get interesting.

 **Continued...**


	9. Tiger's Roar

Tiger's Roar

* * *

I was admittedly unsure that my plan would work, but I started seeing results within the next week. Tigress would give out on training with the large metal bells at 25. This was after I got a stronger cable. Then the number slowly started to increase. 25, 26, 27, 30. She was at 35 by the end of the week. I had her doing weighted ** _everything_**. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, laps, everything had big metal weights. She was slow at first, but then her progress increased dramatically.

But there was a drawback I quickly addressed. As she got stronger, she also had less control, which was evident when she patted me on the back, nearly knocking the air out of my lungs. So she was back with Master Shifu to learn about controlling her increasing strength. I would help, playing and stacking dominoes with her. "No, that one goes over here," She would instruct.

"What are you trying to make?" I asked as I put the tile over in the place she wanted.

"You'll see," She would say with a small cheeky smirk. It would always end up being a wonderful masterpiece.

Her agility and speed were things that were enhanced, but she had to learn control over that as well. She nearly ran into the wall she was pushing just because her strong legs were moving her too fast. So we came up with another exercise which I regret to this day. Chasing me around. I am as unpredictable as they get, so agility and quick turns are really needed to chase me around. And having been with felines for a while, I could give Tigress a good run.

After a month of this, Tigress's strength was increasing. But she still couldn't push the reinforced wall down. She knew she was getting stronger, she just needed to be THAT strong. That was her ultimate goal.

But then an awesomely cool thing happened! Tigress and I were in the kitchen alone. "Po, do you want some tea?" She offered, going to the stove to start the fire.

"Thank you. Could you make some healing tea for yourself as well," I asked, looking at the new bandages on her hands. She grunted in annoyance. She never liked looking weak. "Tigress," I said more firmly.

"I promise you, I'm fine," She assured. I sighed.

"I'm only trying to look out for you, Tigress. Please, for me?" I asked. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed the healing tea along with my own tea. As she was warming up the kettle, she reached to touch it when suddenly,

"Ow," Tigress muttered. My eyes widened until they felt like they were going into my brain. As Tigress rubbed her hand, I got up and looked at her bandage on her hand.

"Tigress? What just happened?" I asked. She looked confused by my shock.

"I just accidentally touched the kettle and it was hot," Tigress said, rubbing her hand.

"Yeah, but what did you say?" I asked.

"Ow?" Tigress slowly said, "Po, why are you-"

"You said you've stopped feeling pain since your were punching ironwood trees, right?" I interrupted. Her eyes widened as she realized my shock.

"My... feeling is back," Tigress stuttered. I was careful with my emotions. As giddy and bodaciously awesome as it was, I didn't know if Tigress thought the same thing. I gingerly took her hand and examined it. Then I looked at her, catching her eyes trying to escape mine. For what reason, I don't know.

"How do you feel about it?" I asked. She stood silent for an eternity it seemed. She kept glancing at my hand and then to me.

"I... I... I like it," She simply said. I smiled like an overexcited child as released her hand and jumped around, pumping my fist in the air.

"Awesome!" I shouted. Tigress looked at me with a mature yet appreciative small smile.

How Tigress regained the feeling in her hands was beyond me. Honestly, I don't know why it excited me so much. I should have been sad by the fact the most hardcore warrior was losing the awesomeness that is not feeling anything. But something about it just made me excited.

There was one problem with Master Tigress's training. Often times, she and the others wanted to know why I was training her the way I was, how I knew the exercise would work, or how do you know Tigress can do that. I didn't want to tell them about Qiang-Du's tiger village because it would be hard for Tigress. I already hurt her by not telling her about the real reason for my trip, which she only never asked me about out of respect for Shifu. Imagine how much she would hate me if she knew I went to a tiger village without her. It would be awful. So I stashed the records and journals of my trip at my Dad's shop. I couldn't risk it being in the Jade Palace, Tigress or the others could just accidentally find it. So I kept it a secret.

* * *

Journal Entry: 45330

Writer: Po

It's been an awesome time! Master Tigress managed to do the one thing that I thought she would never do so fast. After only half a year of training, she managed to do something incredible. By this time, Tigress has already managed to hit 50+ reps on the iron bells, 100 weighted push-ups, sit-ups, squats, etc. And she was able to control all of it with amazing composure. But the most spectacularly awesomest thing she did was when I was sipping a cup of tea on the steps, watching her push against the reinforced wall. She grunted loudly as she strained against the hardened brick barrier, finally taking a break. "Feeling tired?" I teased a bit. I knew she loved a challenge.

"I just... I need a break," Tigress panted. I rose my eyebrow.

"Master Tigress taking a break, without the concerned panda asking her to do so? Who are you and what have you done with Master Tigress?" I joked. She didn't find it amusing, indicated by the low humming growl emitted from her throat.

"P... Master Po," She corrected herself, "Not even Master Shifu can push this wall down." He could definitely punch through it, but not push it down. That required a different set of techniques and muscles.

"You need to stop thinking like Master Shifu and start thinking like you," I replied.

"And who am I?"

"Well, you're a tiger? Maybe that will help?" I honestly suggested. I didn't know what would help her figure it out.

"How is that going to help me push down a reinforced, two-foot inch, brick solid wall?" Tigress asked. I smiled knowingly, probably smugly since Tigress made an irritated growl.

"You've cleared obstacles before," I answered, "This is just another one." Tigress sighed, looking back at the wall. "Come on, Tigress. I know you can do it. Just dig down and look at who you are. You're Tigress, the most fearsome, strongest warrior I know." Or soon to be the strongest. "You can do this."

"Tigress," She said to herself. She muttered her name over and over as if her name held the key to her door. She firmly planted both hands on the wall and pushed. Her muscles slightly bulked out, a vein popped out on her head, her feet gripped the ground furiously, and her eyes shut tightly.

Then we heard it.

The tale-tell signs of a structure giving away. Tigress's eyes shot open as she could feel the resistance against her hands starting to lighten. She pushed harder as the rumbling started to get louder, bricks started to slide back a bit and the sound of bulking groaned through the exciting air. Tigress's low growl slowly ascended into a vicious roar, as if her very voice could tumble the bricks further. With the sound of that roar, the wall of the bricks came tumbling down. Tigress stumbled over a bit, catching her balance and trying not to have the bricks hit her.

My celebration was covered by a sound that Tigress had never made or shown before. She let loose the loudest roar I've ever heard her emit. It echoed around the valley and reverberated among the mountains.

Her stance was wide open, looking up into the sky as her hands curled up a bit as if she was holding the invisible heads of her enemies. When she stopped roaring, she panted heavily with an exaggerated grin. Her feline eyes shrunk down to their small sliver slits as she gazed at me. It was at this time I thought she had lost control or something. But she surprised me by rushing towards me in the blink of an eye and hugging me tightly. She lifted me up and spun me around as if I was as light as a child.

Dumb statement: I think she was happy. As she set me down, her panting slowed down to a calmer breathing. Her pupils dialed back to their normal roundness and she gave a calmer smile. "Thank you," She finally said out of all her excitement. "Thank you, Master Po."

"I'm glad you succeeded," I smiled widely, feeling this overwhelming sense of pride. But then I remember what led to Tai-Lung so I made sure that Tigress didn't go through it. "I'm proud of you." Her smile got wider as she brought me in closer to hug me tightly.

Then she rubbed her head against me and made a very interesting sound. A sound that I only heard around... certain tigers. When she made the sound, I literally jumped from her grasp and started laughing nervously. Her confused face was only temporary as it then turned smug at my embarrassed look. "Um... well, I hope you're feeling well... I mean, good about it. So... um... just go and rest for a moment, I... I'll clean up the mess later," I chuckled, quickly walking away from Tigress. Though she was laughing, I don't think she really understood the significance of the sound she made. How could she? She was never around other tigers to know about it. Had I never been to the Qiang-Du village, I probably would have passed it off as just something tigers did, but I knew better now. I just never expected it from Tigress. I _would_ never expect it from Tigress. I later asked Master Shifu if she had ever emitted a sound like it. (I was careful to leave out the part about her making the sound to ME.) He said no, which was weird considering Tigress was exceptionally close to Master Shifu. So why me? It was very alarming and puzzling.

But also very exciting.

 **Continued...**


	10. Tigers are coming

The Tigers are Coming

* * *

Felines, tigers especially, are very weird animals. How they show love, joy, anger, or sadness isn't necessarily changed by the fact they're cats. But there are some differences. What Tigress did that day when she pushed down the reinforced wall shocked me because I had heard that noise only once in my lifetime... and that was at the Qiang-Du village. Pengyou was walking with me back to Qiang-Du's house. We came from the flea market where I nearly got my head cut off by sampling too many goods... again. "You really do get into trouble a lot, don't you?" Pengyou asked with a smirk. I had a cheesy grin, rubbing the back of my head. Pengyou giggled at my reaction. Her eyes drifted over to a small tiger girl, running past us and latching onto her mother's leg, then being lifted up by her father. Pengyou's normally happy smile turned sad. I knew that look. Tigress often had it when we were reuniting a family.

"You miss your parents?" I asked. Her parents were around but far away in another village. Pengyou looked at me, surprised that I caught on. I guess I gave the impression I was clueless, which most times I was. "I have a friend that has that face when she misses her parents." The stout tiger sighed.

"I do," She simply replied. I surprised her with a hug, which really caught her off guard. "Ppppp Po?"

"I hope this helps," I smiled. Pengyou smiled as hugged back.

"It does." Then she emitted a sound I had never heard before. I released her and looked at her confused. "What?"

"What was that noise you just made?" I asked.

"Oh, that's chuffing," She explained. I was still confused. "You've never heard snow leopards or other big cats chuff? You said you were well liked by the felines."

"I... I never said that" I replied a bit embarrassed. Pengyou giggled a bit. "But I've heard Snow leopards and other cats chuff. Yours just sounds different." Each feline has their own kind of chuffing.

"Well, it's a sign of being happy or for tigers, endearment. Generally, Tigers only give it to people who we feel close with," she explained. "I hope I wasn't misgiving."

"No, no, I understand. I'm just surprised you feel this close with me. You've only known me a week or so," I replied.

"I know, but you still have had a profound effect on me," She smiled widely. Then her eyes widened as if she was surprised. Suddenly, her face turned mischievous. Uh Oh. "But... there is something I should warn you about."

"What's that?"

"If a tiger chuffs and then rubs her head against you, then it means she... well," Pengyou ended up whispering it to me. I blushed very brightly. As I coughed, Pengyou giggled at my reaction.

"Uh... thank you for the warning. But I'm sure that I'll never have that happen to me. I don't think I can measure up to the female tigers here," I said, trying to be meek.

"Well, I'm sure you're more than enough for the women here," Pengyou chuckled, "But you're right. I don't think you're the right match for any of the female tigers _here_." I didn't know what she meant by that _here_.

But now, I kind of do! Tigress had rubbed her head against me AND chuffed. I shook the thought out my head. Tigress has never been around other tigers, so she would never know what they were like socially. It was stupid to get hung up about it.

Even though it was nothing, I found that Tigress would do this chuffing every time a new harder challenge was accomplished for her. I started to get used to her hugging me, rubbing her head against mine, and then chuffing. Sometimes she would do it just to tease me. It wasn't frequent, but it was... nice.

* * *

Journal Entry:5555 something

Writer: Po

About a year later from Master Tigress's conquering of the wall, I was particularly stressed out for a good reason. I woke up as usual and was immediately called to a bandit raid near the village. The raid was more challenging than most because of their organization, but we managed to defeat them. After the fight, my goose dad wanted me to watch after the shop, but I told him I had to go see Master Shifu first because he said a message just came for me. As I hurried up to the Jade Palace, conquering the dreadful stairs, I met Shifu.

He did not look pleased. He wasn't angry, but he definitely wasn't happy. He looked extremely worried. "Master Shifu, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I... I just got a message from the Qiang-Du village. I think you should read it," He said giving me a scroll in his hand. I opened the scroll and read.

 _Dear Dragon Warrior,_

 _Greetings from Qiang-Du. Zumu misses you greatly, and we have missed your company and hope you are doing well. We are also happy to tell you that Wang has formally entered into the Master's council. This will allow him to visit more often to the Jade Palace, his dream place. Also, Pengyou wants to visit you and meet her idol Master Tigress. I hope that you will apologize for the late warning as she sent a message about her departure to your temple of knowledge yesterday and has already started. She should be roughly two days away from you by the time you get this letter. Wang should be there in five. I hope that this will not complicate things and I hope you enjoy their company._

 _Sincerely yours,_

 _Master Qiang-Du._

It was at this moment I knew I was screwed.

Before Master Shifu could catch me, I ran to my room and paced around. No, I hadn't told Tigress about the village yet. No, I didn't tell Tigress about Pengyou and Wang. And yes, she was going to kill me when she found out. "I'm done for!" I cried out.

"Po?"

"AHHH!" I spun around and found Tigress, innocently standing at my door. "Tigress! What uh... what did you hear?"

"Nothing really," she honestly said, "I just saw you run over here and thought something was wrong."

"It's nothing. Just... a friend of mine is coming and I don't know if I'll be able to handle them being here," I sighed, sitting on my bed. Tigress smiled a bit at my stress. "Ugh, what am I going to do?"

"What about the person makes them stressful?" Tigress asked.

"Well, nothing, really. It's just... I haven't told you guys about them and... I'm just very worried about what you'll think about them," I sighed, being honest yet hopefully cryptic.

"Well, when they come, we'll have an unbiased opinion about them. I promise," She smiled a bit. I smiled back, really hoping I could tell her before Pengyou came. I rubbed my head though. The whole thing was very stress-inducing. "Why don't you relax? It's okay. We'll be fine with whoever it is."

"Don't you want to know who it is?" I asked quite stupidly. If I didn't want her knowing, why on earth was I asking that?

"Yes, but not if it gives you so much stress," Tigress said compassionately. I smiled as I hunched my back over. Tigress walked over to my backside and placed her hands gently on my back. I instinctively flinched. "You seemed very tense. Is this bad?"

"No, I... I just-"

"Po, relax," she said. Finally allowing my muscles to unwind, Tigress massaged my back muscles with a surprising balance of force and softness. "Surprised that I can be this gentle?" She said with the sound of a smirk.

"Well, yeah. I mean, towards me anyways. Ah, right there," I gritted. I didn't realize how tense my muscles had become. "Tigress, why are you doing this? You don't have to."

"I know, but other than my master, you're also my good friend, Po. It's the least I can do," She said warmly. I sighed peacefully.

"I have to go to my dad's shop soon. He wanted me to help him with something," I sighed about to get up, but Tigress held me down.

"Stay. I'll tend to Mr. Ping's task."

"But-"

"You need some rest," Tigress said in a motherly yet friendly tone as she walked out the door. "So get some rest." I shrugged as she went out of sight. Nothing I could do to stop her. Plus, it would probably give me time to figure out the situation with the Tigers coming. I reclined on my bed and my eyes became heavy as I went to sleep.

When I woke up, my eyes met a different kind of Tigress hanging over me. Her jaw was set, her eyes pierced through me, and her telltale lines of anger were apparent. I slowly got up, quickly coming up with an excuse. "Okay, what did I do? And if I did it, I didn't mean to. But I'm going to start off by saying I didn't do it and-"

"Stop," Tigress firmly said. When I stood up, I saw she had a scroll in her hand.

"Um... Tigress," I asked with a kind of whimper in my voice, "What's that in your hand?" I hoped that it wasn't what I thought it was.

"Mr. Ping asked me to help clean your room. It was quite the mess," She commented. Great, now she's an interior decorator? "But I looked underneath your bed and found this... the journal you made when you went to the village of Qiang-Du, the one with the tigers?" She said firmly.

It was at that moment I knew I was _very_ screwed.

 **Continued...**


	11. Pengyou's Visit

Pengyou's Visit

* * *

"Now Tigress," I said, trying to calm her down, "I can explain. I just... I wanted to tell you AND bring you, but... I wanted to make sure you could-"

"I'm not upset," She finally replied. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. I had a whole list of excuses to use.

"Oh, then... why do you look upset?" I asked.

"I... I understand why you couldn't tell me. I read your concern for my strength," Tigress explained with a sad tone. I suddenly remembered what I wrote.

"Tigress, I meant back then," I clarified, walking closer to her. "Look at you now! You're much stronger than any tiger I've seen there. You can lift me up with one hand and juggle me like a ball." She actually did one time to keep me out of harm's way. "I'm sorry I was so blunt in my journal."

"It's not your fault. I invaded your privacy. By comparison, I _was_ weak," Tigress sighed, looking at the floor with a tiny smile. I rested my hands on her shoulders, calling her attention me.

"But you're not anymore," I reiterated, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you though." She smirked a bit.

"It's okay. From what I read, the female tigers seemed to like you," She smirked as she started walking out of the door. I rubbed the back of my neck skittishly as I followed.

"Yeah, well, that was a journey. They've never seen a big panda like me before," I shyly smiled.

"I can imagine," She said cooly. "I remember the first time I saw a panda." My ears perked up. I along with everyone else in the village thought I was the only panda alive.

"When was that?"

"When you landed in front of me," She smirked. I shrunk a bit. It seemed like Tigress could always make me stumble so easily and I don't know why. "I just can't believe you thought I was a clown."

"You always love teasing me about that," I grumbled at her smug smile. "I was young. What did you think of pandas before you first met me?" She smiled a bit wider.

"I thought you were some kind of walking beach ball," she said honestly.

"A beach ball, really?!" I exclaimed. Tigress continued to smile at my expression. "But Tigress," I said in all seriousness as we entered the courtyard. "I am sorry we didn't bring you with us."

"I understand, Po. It was for my training," She said with a genuine smile. It's only a few times I see that smile, but it has become a great treasure for me somehow. Suddenly, Zeng, the messenger for the Jade Palace, flew in bowing before me.

"What is it, Zeng?"

"Dragon Warrior, a friend of yours is here to visit you," Zeng said, rubbing his neck. "And she's a major hugger." My eyes widened.

"Uh no," I muttered as the doors to the courtyard burst open to the sight of a stout stoked tiger. She ran up to me and nearly tackled me to the ground.

"PO! It's so good to see you," Pengyou excitedly cried out.

"Air! AIR!" I wheezed as she released me from her death grip hug. "Pengyou," I forced a smile, "What are you doing here? So early?! You're not supposed to be here for another 48 hours!" I said through my teeth and smile, trying to contain my nervousness and frustration. That's when Master Shifu came up.

"That's what I was trying to tell you before you left," Shifu said, quite humorously, "Zeng said there was a two-day delay in the message." I glared at Shifu who emitted a short chuckle at my situation. Oh, I wish Pengyou had brought some of the tiger kids to chase him around as revenge. Today, just seemed to be a bad day for me. Then Pengyou hugged me, more gently this time. But then... she sniffed me.

"OH!" She said, jumping away from me. Did I not smell good? "I'm sorry, I didn't know you... um... anyway, it's so good to see you."

"Good to see you too," I carefully said. The change in attitude was... a bit concerning. "Pengyou, let me introduce you to Master Tigress." Pengyou's eyes widened as she looked up at the taller female Tiger. Tigress's face seemed just as shocked as mine. Pengyou bowed. She sniffed again and then smirked at me.

"Oh, so this is the tiger you were talking about?" She teased.

"Uh... I didn't say anything bad about her," I said to everyone listening.

"Of course not, he just wouldn't stop talking about you," Pengyou teased, "Tigress this, Tigress that, Tigress, oh how I-"

"Okay, that's enough!" I shouted, clamping Pengyou's muzzle shut. She giggled at my embarrassed face.

"I'm sorry, I normally don't act this way," She grinned after I released her mouth. "It's just fun to tease Po a bit."

"I can relate," Tigress said with a hint of mischief. Great, there were two of them. "How well do you know Po?"

"Well, obviously not as well as you do," Pengyou said as a matter-of-fact. Tigress's eyebrow rose. "I mean, he's mentioned being around you for years now. I would think-" Then Pengyou just realized something. "Wait, you've never been around another Tiger, right?" Tigress nodded. "Oh... that would explain why Po smells like that."

"What! I smell?!" I shouted, sniffing myself.

"No, no, no, not in that way. You remember that... thing... that tigers do to show... umm-"

"Yes, I remember," I muttered, catching on to what she was saying. She was talking about the chuffing and the rubbing, "What about it?"

"Well, when they do... that... they give off a kind of scent that says to other tigers, 'that's mine'," She said with a smirk. Then it dawned on me.

"Pengyou, you need to leave," I said emotionlessly. She just giggled as Tigress stood there quite confused.

"Pengyou, why don't I show you where you'll be sleeping for the night," Shifu offered. The two went away, leaving Tigress with me. I gulped, waiting for some kind of glare or disapproving growl.

"She seems... nice," Tigress said, looking at where the tiger went to.

"Yeah, she's a bit... much... but she's very kind and loving."

"I can imagine," She said very emotionlessly. It was silent for a moment. "Do you... know her well?"

"I mean, I only stayed in the village for a week or two so no. Why?"

"No reason," Tigress answered. "How is she... as a person?"

"Good, why are you asking me these questions?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing, nothing," Tigress dismissively said as she walked back to the Jade Palace. That was... strange.

Throughout the day Pengyou was here, Tigress seemed to call my attention more often. Was she doing this kick right? What was the right angle for this attack? Did her form look good? Finally, I had to call her out on it. "Okay, Tigress, what's going on?" I asked firmly.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"Ever since Pengyou came, you've been acting strange," I said, trying to put two and two together in my head. There had to be a reason why she was doing this.

"I don't know what you mean." She promptly replied.

"Does Pengyou bother you?"

"No," She muttered. "It's... I just needed some help that's all." I knew she was lying, but I didn't have the energy to figure out why. I simply threw my hands up in defense as I backed away.

"Well, I was just wondering if you were okay," I muttered, "Sorry to be a bother." With that, I walked away. "What is with her?" I grumbled to myself as I walked the barrack hallways, "She's just been dodgy AND needy all day." Something was off, but I couldn't figure out what.

"You really don't know, do you?" Said a voice behind me. I spun around and saw Pengyou with her arms crossed and a knowing grin on her face.

"Know what?"

"You and Tigress are close friends, right?" I nodded. "For how long?"

"About five years, why?"

"You don't think that she might be acting this way for a... certain reason?" Pengyou hinted. I had no idea what she was talking about. Pengyou sighed in disbelief but then she smirked. "Well, maybe you'll understand when Wang comes." My eyes widened. That's right, another striped cat was going to be here. Pengyou knew that irritated me more than the trouble I was going through with Tigress. But why on earth would I understand better when Wang came?

 **Continued...**


	12. Tiger Flirting

Tiger Flirting

* * *

Pengyou was right. A day after she left, the male tiger showed up. "Master Wang, it's good to see you again," Shifu greeted at the doorway. The big tiger bowed as well. He grinned widely at me as he took me into a skeleton-crushing side hug.

"And how is my favorite panda doing?" Wang boomed.

"Good, if I can breathe!" I wheezed. Wang laughed as he released me. Tigers can be a very warm bunch, but they do hug very hard.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Said Viper who was with us. Wang smiled flirtatiously.

"And you must be a very delicate flower mixed with a reptile. Who might you be, my dear lady?"

"I'm Viper," She smiled, a little shyly. She wasn't expecting such a greeting. I rolled my eyes. Great, I had to deal with this? We were standing in the courtyard when we heard a loud boom.

"What was that!" Wang shouted.

"Oh, that's Tigress pushing another wall down. I have to get quieter bricks," I muttered. Wang seemed shocked, amazed, and horrified all in one.

"She's... pushing down walls?" Wang said in disbelief. I motioned for him to follow me. We went to the back where there was more space. The bricks were becoming cumbersome to move around. Right there, Tigress was stretching, quite pleased with her challenge accomplished. Wang's eyes popped out at the bricks. They were three feet deep bricks reinforced. Not a light challenge. "She's a god."

"What?" I laughed in surprised a bit like Shifu and Viper. "She just pushed down a wall. I thought you guys push through walls all the time. You know, 'train to push down the wall instead of punch through it', right?" Wang's eyes widened even more.

"Po, that was just a figure of speech, a metaphor. Tigers can't LITERALLY push down a wall, especially one like that!" Wang exclaimed. Everyone stood in speechless shock. I clapped my hands together.

"Oh well," I said, not really knowing what else to say. Just then, Tigress came over to us. "Oh, Tigress, this is Master Wang, from the Qiang-Du village." Before she could bow, Wang gently took her hand, bowed, and kissed it like she was a queen.

"It is an immense honor to meet you, Master Tigress. I've seen for myself your strength and power. You're an inspiration for all Tiger-kind," Wang said elegantly. I rolled my eyes again as Tigress received her hand back. She smirked at him.

"You're very good with words. Po mentioned that you were a fighter?" She replied.

"Yes, but I doubt that I'll be able to measure up to your strength," Wang humbly said. I grumbled under my breath. Tigress confidently walked towards the Training Hall.

"Why don't we see for ourselves," She said mischievously. Wang smiled wider as he walked after her. I didn't like it. How Wang just came into her favorite's list like that. And it was irritating how Tigress just accepted it like it was nothing. I saw female tigers do that with the males in Qiang-Du. I always thought it was cute. But with Tigress... I mean, _here,_ it was something different.

"Po, are you okay?" Shifu asked.

"I'm fine," I grumbled.

"'Fine' doesn't have a face like that," Viper pointed out. I shook my head and waved the incident off.

"It's nothing. Wang can be a bit much sometimes," I muttered.

"Hmm," Shifu hummed with a small knowing grin on his face. I simply walked away from the two, irritated by what their faces and gestures. I don't know why, but it just irked me.

Later on, I watched Tigress repeatedly defeat Wang. I fought with Wang and won as well, but there was something pleasing inside me to see him get hurt by Tigress's stinging blow yet irritated by how quickly he got up. Why? I don't know, but it just did. "Wow," Wang panted as Tigress had not even blown a sweat, "You're really as strong as they say you are."

"I'm surprised tigers know anything about me," Tigress replied. She had never seen another tiger before so she wouldn't have any knowledge about how they act or their culture.

"We didn't until Po started talking about you," Wang said, getting up from the dust, "At first I thought he was exaggerating, but now I see that he was understating your strength. And your beauty as well." Tigress simply smirked at the tiger's flattery.

"Ahem," I forcefully coughed, "Tigress don't you have a set of weighted pull-ups to do?" I reminded her. She walked away, staring at me as if she knew what was going on in my head. I hated it when she did that because currently, I didn't know what was going on in my head. Wang walked up to me with a knowing smirk. "What?" I practically growled.

"You know, you don't have to fear me liking her," He said very bluntly.

"It's not that," I muttered. But it was.

"Hehe, of course, it's not. I can already tell she's not interested in me," Wang replied. That perked my interest.

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course, there's a lot you still need to learn about tigers, Po," Wang smirked. I rolled my eyes, looking away. Wang was like a big brother that always picked on me sometimes. Then I heard him sniffing around me. I spun my head back to him and glared at his wider smirk.

"She didn't know. Remember, she's never been around other tigers," I said, knowing what he was smelling.

"But tigers can also pick up on how often the female is around their 'pick'," Wang replied. I rolled my eyes.

"She doesn't know. So it doesn't mean anything," I sighed.

"It'll only mean something when you make it mean something," Wang pointed out. I looked at him from with a dismissive glance and sighed again.

Then I sniffed and recognized a faint smell. I looked at Wang with wide eyes. He... no, it couldn't be. "What?" He asked.

"You and... Pengyou are seeing each other?" I asked. Wang's eyes went round and stumbled back a bit.

"How did you-"

"I noticed a different scent. Since I'm around Tigress a lot I don't notice others very well, but Pengyou's is still fairly recent in my head," I said with a growing smile. "I can't believe it! You and Pengyou!"

"SHH! I... I don't want anyone knowing yet. I haven't told my relatives yet. We just want to see where this will go first," Wang said nervously. I smirked.

"Hmmm, I'd be more concerned that you're trying to flirt with Tigress while also seeing Pengyou," I pointed out.

"Oh, so you noticed?" Wang smirked. We had come to an impasse. "Well, in any case, I think you and Tigress should... work more together."

"What does that mean?" I asked. Wang shook his head as he patted me on the back.

"You're the best clueless panda ever," He smiled.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

The two days, I suffered a bit as Wang stayed around before leaving. I was still irritated about him being around Tigress so much. I didn't know why... until later.

The day that Wang left, I was in the Training Hall, fixing up a new training routine for Tigress when she surprised me from behind. "Po?"

"AHHH!" I jumped. "Tigress, stop doing that!"

"I think you and I need to talk."

"About what?" I asked worriedly.

"About Wang? Why were you so hesitant about him? Especially around me?" She asked.

"He... um... well... male tigers tend to flirt a bit around female tigers... it's harmless, but since you've never been around tigers before, I didn't know if you could figure out what he was doing."

"I knew what he was doing before he even came," Tigress pointed out. I was surprised. How? "You wrote about your interaction with the Tigers, remember?"

"Right," I said, slapping my head with my hand. It was amazing how much Tigress could pick up.

"But since you already knew that, why were so upset about him doing it to me?" She asked with a slight smirk on her face. She knew why, which irked me.

"And what about you," I said defensively, making her smirk turn into a frown, "Why were you so different when Pengyou came?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I think the subjects are related," I defiantly said. We stared at each other, silently battling each other. I knew how tigers functioned when it came to these kinds of things. They'll argue with each other and then stare at each other until someone sighs or relents.

But Tigress cheated. I got... distracted by her eyes and shook my head, leaving her room to strike. "Is something wrong, Po?" She asked in a _tone_. I lost, sighing at my defeat.

"Look, we both acted... differently around those two," I explained, trying to establish common ground, "Why don't we just apologize to each other and move on." Tigress's eyebrow rose as I offered her my hand. She sighed... almost in disappointment as she took my hand and shook it.

"Agreed." The issue of Pengyou and Wang didn't come up again... until another issue came up between me and Tigress.

 **Continued...**


	13. Broken

Broken

* * *

I wasn't expecting much after that day. The next two days were fairly routine between me and Tigress. As she practiced a fiery air kick move that I taught her, I helped give advice. "Hmm," I hummed as she performed the kick with grace. "You can give yourself a bit wider stance when you land," l commented, looking at her finishing pose. I stood behind her, guiding her hands and arms. "Imagine you're trying to strike into your enemy's battle armor when you kick and are ready for another when you land." I straightened her stance a bit, giving her a bit wider standing as I came to her front. "Keep yourself centered," I said, casually sliding my hand up to her cheek, "And focus on your enemy okay?" I smiled. She gave a very kind small smile. I felt at peace with that face.

"Okay," She smiled back. I lightly shook my head as if I were in a trance and stepped back from Tigress.

"Again!" Tigress launched into the air, turned over, landed on one hand, did a light kick while upset down and balanced on one hand, sprung up from that hand, and launched a powerful kick that made the dust kick up as she landed in her traditional tiger style finishing pose. "Excellent," I smiled. "Now, do some stretches for a while. I'll be right back after I talk with Master Shifu."

"What does he require of you?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I don't want to keep him waiting," I shrugged as I went to the Hall of Heroes. I passed by a hall of tall paintings of heroes and warriors as I went to the hall. This was one of the Hall of Heroes' side halls. These showed fierce looking warriors and Kung Fu legends. I often wondered if these were dramatized exaggerated stories like mine often were. Anyways, I went to the Hall of Heroes to talk with Master Shifu. "You wanted to see me, Master Shifu?"

"Yes, Po. I would like to address a... concern I have with Master Tigress's training," Shifu said tentatively. My eyes narrowed a bit as my eyebrows furrowed. I was half expecting this: Master Shifu thinking that Tigress had become too strong. My worry was which side I would choose. Would I choose the side for Tigress or Shifu? I didn't want another Tai-Lung. But that wasn't the issue. "Why have you not trained the others as much as you have with Master Tigress?" My eyes widened. Come to think of it, I hadn't been with the others as much as I've been with Tigress.

"Um..." was all I could say. I wasn't prepared for that question.

"I understand that you've become very... invested in Tigress's training, but I would like to remind you that we have other people to train in the Jade Palace as well," Shifu chided. I quickly nodded. "Very well, that was all." The red panda walked slowly away as I was there wrestling with the situation. I wondered what the others thought about it.

That night, I asked Tigress to go on an errand for me while I was talking with the other Five. "Hey guys," I said walking into the kitchen.

"Po, thanks for the training. I can feel my insect biceps getting bigger. Hmm! Look at those arrows," Mantis gloated. I shook my head with a smile.

"Hey, guys? I want to ask you something. Do you think I've been showing favoritism to Tigress more than you guys?" I asked. The four looked at each other. Then all of their eyes turned to Crane. Whenever Tigress wasn't in the room, Crane was the next one to speak for the Furious Five most times.

"Well, yes," Crane said as if it was obvious, "But we're okay with that."

"Really?"

"We know that you've been worried about Tigress's training and it's taken up some of your time. We understand the change," Crane answered as the others nodded.

"But I don't want to make you guys feel left out, though."

"Po, it's fine really. To be honest, we're glad that you're spending so much time with Tigress. She is your favorite," Viper smiled, _seemingly_ innocently.

"Waaaaaait," I slowly uttered. "What do you mean favorite?" Viper was actually a lot more subtle than Tigress. She could slip things in and make it seem so innocent that the most investigative person couldn't figure her out. Viper's serpent mouth curled into a knowing smirk. "WHA... WHAT!"

"It's completely obvious Po," Crane said.

"I... I... I don't... um..." I finally breathed in and spoke actual words, "I do not train Tigress because of a... more than a master-apprentice relationship."

"What about when Wang came?" Viper asked, again _too_ innocently.

"Are you suggesting that I was.. Jealous?!"

"Yes," Viper quickly answered me. I spluttered, trying to form words again. But... then a thought came into my mind.

"Wait, if, AND IM NOT SAYING I AM! If I was in...er... if I was in that situation with Tigress, why would you guys be okay with it?" That seemed to catch them in a bind.

"Uh... well, um..." Crane stuttered. Viper sighed. It was her turn to speak.

"Because you've brought the better part of her out. Po, before you came, Tigress was a very tightly wound person with only a few moments of enjoying herself. But she always wanted more than the training she was getting and you're giving that to her."

"What am I 'giving' to her?" I asked. Viper tilted her head and raised eyes a bit. It was a snake's way of a shrug. "Well, anyway, there's nothing going on between Tigress and me. We're just... people," I weirdly replied, "And I promise to give you guys an equal training day."

"Thank you, Po, but don't beat yourself too much about it," Monkey smirked a bit with a cheeky flare, "We know you're busy." I stormed out of the kitchen upset at the implication. There wasn't anything between me and Tigress. Nothing! As I got to my room, I frustratingly wrote all of the stuff that happened.

Why would they think that? Now I understood what Wang was getting at. Sure, Tigress and I were close and exceptionally closer after the breakthrough of training her. It would definitely explain my behavior and to some degree hers when Pengyou and Wang were here. But... it doesn't mean anything. It couldn't... It wouldn't...It shouldn't...

Right?

As the night went on, my initial frustration was abated when Tigress came into the room. Her face seemed casual and normal, so I didn't worry if she overheard me. She made me some tea and gave it to me. "Thank you, Tigress. I owe you one."

"Well, there is something that I would like to ask for, as a debt," Tigress smiled a bit. I sighed. Of course, she would. "What was the thing that you and Pengyou were talking about? The smell or scent? I also heard Wang talk about it."

"AH! Um... well,... uh..." I nervously spluttered. "I don't think it's good to about."

"It's a sign of deep affection," said a familiar older voice. I paled as I saw Master Shifu enter the room. "It's normally done with married couples. The smell that Pengyou told you about was your scent on Po. I imagine it was during the time you pushed the wall down for the first time." Shifu's face was hard to read. For the most part, he didn't seem angry by the situation. Tigress, on the other hand, had a face that could only be described as "she left her diary on the kitchen table."

"Oh," She shortly said.

"In future interactions, I hope that you'll save that for an intended purpose, Tigress," Shifu said very blandly. Tigress bowed quickly and then rushed out of the room. I eyed Master Shifu suspiciously. I was embarrassed, but there was something that caught my attention.

"Don't you mean, don't repeat the same mistake?" I asked. Shifu simply 'hmph'ed' and turned around.

"I meant what I said the first time," Shifu repeated as he walked out of my room. Needless to say, my interactions with Tigress became very... measured.

The Furious Five's training continued up to a week until Crane injured one of his wings. "I'll be fine," He muttered.

"Uh huh, bend your wing," I muttered. He tried to but the injury was too much.

"Okay, so it's a little banged up," Crane mumbled. I rolled my eyes.

"I can fix him up," Mantis sighed.

"No, you can't. Not that kind of injury," I sighed. The whole room turned to me with questionable glances. "What?"

"How do you know what kind of injury he has?" Viper asked.

"I've seen birds like Crane a lot of times. One bird injured his wing close to the way Crane's is. We're going to have to bring in a specialist. Monkey, have Zeng come to my room. I have a letter for him to send," I gently ordered. The simian did so as I walked over to my room. "Urk! This thing is really getting on my nerves," I muttered, moving around my bright white robe. It was identical to the one I got when I defeated Kai in the spirit world. My panda dad and Mr. Ping worked together to make it, but it still had some breaking in to do. As I went to my room, I sat down at the small little desk I got. I wrote a lot after my autobiography and my journey to Qiang-du, so it was natural to get a desk. Suddenly, I heard a noise. I looked at the door and saw a familiar orange cat. "Tigress?"

"Who are you messaging, Master Po?" She asked. She returned to the formal greetings. After what happened, I wouldn't blame her.

"I know a friend of mine that specializes in crane injuries. I'm messaging her to look at Crane's wing," I explained plainly. Tigress gave a short nod and then exited the room when Shifu came in as well. "Master Shifu?" I said, still focusing on my letter.

"You should talk to her."

"Who?" I asked, looking up from my paper. Shifu's half-lidded stare and sunken in face suggested I knew. "You mean... Tigress?"

"Po, she's been very distant with you lately."

"Can you blame her?" I remarked a bit, "She did something embarrassing, I would avoid her as well."

"Which you are," Shifu noted. I sighed. He was irritatingly right. Though I was training the others routinely now, Tigress and I weren't very close in proximity and time. It felt more like a checkup inspection everytime I trained her.

"What am I going to do? Just say, 'hey, don't feel bad about affectionately rubbing your head against me and spreading your scent on me in excitement?'" Shifu simply stared at me and then walked away.

"It's better than what you're doing," He retorted. I groaned. He was right.

 **Continued...**


	14. Healing

Healing

* * *

"Ah! Easy," Crane muttered as I slowly moved his arm around to ease the particular injury.

"Sorry. Just make sure you don't move it afterward. Fei-Xing should be here any minute," I replied.

"How do you know this Fei-Xing?" Viper asked.

"I'll explain some other time," I quickly answered as I saw Tigress ducking into the Training Hall. I walked into it, seeing her looking at the floor with her arms slightly hugging herself. "Tigress?"

"Master Po!" Tigress said, snapping to attention. I sighed, sagging my shoulders at her formal talk.

"Tigress, we need to talk. About the rubbing and the chuffing incident?" I said to make sure she knew. She looked away embarrassed.

"I'm sorry that-"

"It wasn't your fault, Tigress. You didn't know anything about it."

"Still, I'm sorry that I caused you such an embarrassment in front of Pengyou and Wang," Tigress said regrettably. That's what she was upset about?

"Tigress, those two were going to tease me even if you didn't do what you did," I smiled reassuringly. "But please don't be distant from me." Tigress stared at me when I said that. Her eyes always intrigued me. Of all the tigers I saw, Tigress's eyes were the most terrifying at times, and alluring at other time.

"What?" She asked, almost in a whisper. I shook my head awake.

"Nothing, nothing, I just... Nothing," I smiled in a goofy way. Tigress smiled again.

"How do you know this Fei-Xing?" Tigress asked, going onto a different topic. I scratched the back of my head nervously.

"Well, she kind of saved me," I said, replaying the scene in my head.

It was a dark and cloudy night. **(A/N: I had to)** Staying in the spot I was wasn't good. I hated it when my dad sent me out on trips. Though at first, I loved traveling with him because it meant not having to be badgered all the time. But I quickly grew tired of it because I would always have to go with a friend or person my dad knew. Fortunately, I was going with Nao who agreed to look after me. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Nao."

"It's alright. I know we're close to the village," The snow leopard replied.

"At least it's not raining," I sighed.

BANG! Drips and drops of water started pouring down on us. Nao's angry stare, which looked more like an annoyed teen, pierced through me. "Oops."

"Let's just get to the village," She said, using my arm as an umbrella. I was about twice her height at this age, which was a year before I became Dragon Warrior. "Hey! I see some lights!" She shouted over the sound of the roaring rain. There were some lanterns in the distance. We started running over, knocking on the first house we saw. The door opened up.

"Come in! Come in, don't stay there in the rain!" Said a very concerned and almost motherly voice. We stumbled inside of the woman's house. I shivered. Why is it that taking a bath or going into a pool or lake feels good, but drops of water from above feels...

"UGH!" I groaned. That's exactly what rain felt like. A towel was brought to me by the kind bystander. "Thank you."

"Thank you so much for your kindness. We're sorry to barge in like this," Nao apologized.

"It's okay. I have a lot of people come over to this house anyway," She replied. I looked around. The house was very spacious. Two tables were decorated in the dining room, a large kitchen, a stairwell where I could only assume were more rooms and something delightful cooking in the kitchen.

"I smell food," I said as a caveman searching for prey. The woman laughed.

"Yes, I was going to prepare some Bao-Ging. Fortunately, I made too much, but-"

"Trust me, nothing is too much for this panda," I said proudly. The woman smiled at me. My eyes widened. She was a tall female crane with a beautiful red crown of feathers (Much like the one Crane has under his hat.) **(A/N: Which is weird because I've only seen it in the Secret of the Scroll)** She had a calming blue plain silk dress and her smile was warm and inviting. "Um... who are you, anyway."

"Forgive me, I'm Fei-Xing, I run an inn next door."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Nao said as she bowed along with me, "I'm Nao and this is Po." I waved awkwardly. Fei-Xing seemed to look younger but act older. She reminded me more of a motherly person.

"Why are you two traveling in the dark, in the rain?" Fei-Xing asked.

"Well," Nao said, quite loudly as she stared at me. "We were sent on an errand for Po's father. We would have gotten here sooner if SOMEONE didn't stop to eat their 2nd lunch."

"I was hungry!"

"Po, you're always hungry," Nao sighed with a bemused look. Fei-Xing chuckled.

"Well, I've served fourteen Rhino soldiers before so I think I can barely feed a panda," The crane said confidently. And she did, surprisingly. Feeding me is no easy task. "So what brings you to this part of the Valley? We rarely get visitors from the Jade Palace side." The Valley of Peace is a particularly long valley. Nao groaned.

"We were sent on an errand to get some utensils at a 'cheap' price," Nao muttered. Fei-Xing's eyebrow rose perplexed. "Yeah, it's a stupid reason, but that's why we're here."

"My dad runs a noodle shop over at the Jade Palace side," I explained. Fei-Xing's beak dropped then curled into a long smile.

"Your Mr. Ping's kid, Po," She said. I was surprised. How did this crane know me? "I'm the one your father is looking for. My cousin, anyway. I can get him in the morning."

"Wow, you know my dad? How?"

"He used to feed me when I was little," Fei-Xing smiled at the memory. Then something in my head clicked.

"Wait, how old are you?"

"PO!"

"It's okay," Fei-Xing calmed the shouting snow leopard, "I tend to act older than I seem. I'm 20."

"Oh, sorry about what I said," I nervously smiled, rubbing the back of my neck. Fei-Xing smiled at my mannerism. "And thank you for helping us. I wish we could return the favor."

"It's okay. I'm just excited to see Mr. Ping's son growing up big and strong."

"Well, big anyways," I chuckled a bit, jiggling my fat around.

* * *

"After that, we went to get the stuff my dad sent us for. We finally got to the cousin's house and got the silverware," I replied.

"Your father seems to really need silverware all the time," Tigress noted. That was very true.

"Anyways, she's also a local nurse and told me everything I know about cranes. That's how I know about the injury," I explained just as Zeng came in with a word that a crane was waiting for us at the front door. Tigress and I walked over to the gates of the courtyard to greet the elegant female crane. It seemed the years didn't do a thing to her youthfulness. I bowed. "It's good to see you, Fei-Xing."

"And good to see you, Dragon Warrior," She smiled grandly. "And Master Tigress as well. Master Po has told me a lot about you." I shifted my eyes over to Tigress. She had the calmest knowing smirk on her face. "Anyways, where is the-"

"AHHH! MONKEY!" Shouted an irritated voice. I sighed.

"That would be him," I muttered. Tigress, Fei-Xing, and I walked over to the barracks where Crane was grumbling in pain next to a smirking simian. "What happened?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"I was just trying to give his muscles a stretch," Monkey said, trying to sound innocent. I rolled my eyes. Fei-Xing wasn't having any of it.

"Unless you want to feel what its like to have that injury, I suggest that you keep away from that crane's wing, understand?" She said forcefully. Monkey shrunk and scampered away from the room. Crane sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Mrs. er...

"Fei-Xing," She said very curtly as she quickly knelt down and attended to his arm. "We have to work fast if we're to make sure that wound doesn't worsen." She examined and tested the injury, expertly finding the weakened part of Crane's wing. "Now hold on a bit, this will sting a little," She advised, rubbing on some herbal remedy. Crane winced in pain a bit to the sting, but it faded after a while. "Good, now the worst parts are over with," She said still tending to the wound. Crane looked like he was struggling to say something.

"How long have you been doing this?" Crane asked.

"For about 15 years now. I was taught when I was about 15 years old," Fei-Xing replied. This was several years after I first met her.

"You're that old?" Crane asked. I slapped my forehead in disbelief as Tigress rubbed the bridge of her nose. You don't do that. You just don't.

"Yes, I am," She said in a noticeably irritated tone. Crane seemed to realize his mistake.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't think... there was someone as beautiful as you around my age," Crane answered. This caused Fei-Xing to stop for a moment but then focused back on her work.

"Thank you," She replied. Crane's wing was finally bandaged. "There, make sure that he gets plenty of rest and that his wing doesn't move as much... If... if he needs any more additional care, let me know," She told us.

"Where do you live?" Crane asked. Fei-Xing's eyes widened. There was something... unsaid about what he was asking for.

"Um...I live in the village south of here, not far, really," She struggled to say. Again, Crane realized his mistake.

"I didn't mean to be intrusive, I was just curious," Crane replied. Tigress and I gave each other side glances. I'm clueless, but there was something going on here. As Fei-Xing finally left, Master Shifu came in to relay that a friend of mine came to the Valley of Peace and wanted to see me. A friend named Nao.

"Oh... good," I said unenthusiastically as Shifu left. Tigress noticed this.

"What's wrong? From your stories, I thought you would be excited."

"Well, it's complicated," I replied.

 **Continued...**


	15. Self Struggles

Self Struggles

 **Forget about what I said about this thing being short XD.**

* * *

Nao and me, just after I had defeated Tai-Lung, had a sharp disagreement. [ _Sabeeq, I will not tell you what the disagreement was about because I do not feel it's important to bring up again. Plus, I wouldn't want you to take sides_ ] After that, we never really talked. I fidgeted uncomfortably as we neared the bottom of the mountain. Tigress, who seemed to refuse to leave my side today, tried to ease my fears. "If she wants to see you, then she's probably over the incident," Tigress said. She thought the whole incident ridiculous anyway, so she didn't take a side.

"I know, but... I was really a jerk," I sighed.

"That's concerning," Tigress mentioned. I looked at her questionably. "I can't imagine a rude snarky version of you."

"For good reasons, I don't have the confidence in me to do so," I replied. Tigress seemed glad about the fact. We went to my dad's shop. There in the corner among the ducks, pigs, and gazelles was a familiar snow leopard. She saw me at the entryway. Her expression wasn't what I thought it would be.

"PO!" She shouted, running over to me and hugging me tightly. This was... new. "How are you?"

"Um... I'm fine. How are you, Nao?" I asked, looking over to Tigress with a confused face. She smiled back at me, knowing that she was right. I rolled my eyes. I hated it when she was right.

"I'm doing great. How's the job of Dragon Warrior?" She asked excitedly.

"It's good," I slowly replied, motioning Tigress to go inside of the shop to give us some privacy. Nao saw the motion, but she didn't seem to understand. "Nao, I'm... I'm sorry for what I said and did when-"

"Oh, Po," She sighed, realizing why I was being so distant, "I shouldn't have been so harsh as well. I'm sorry for what I did. I hope you can forgive me." I smiled as I hugged her tightly. "Now, the tiger woman you just came with. Is she your-"

"No, no, no," I laughed a bit, "She's just a good friend of mine and one of my students." I looked into the shop and was surprised at what I saw. "Who is currently talking to another snow leopard?" Nao turned around and rolled her eyes as we both went into the shop. Tigress was smirking and talking with a nervously smiling, happy-go-lucky, buff male snow leopard with two swords strapped to his back and brown leather chest plate, exposing his trim abdominal. _[I won't tell you where we get the leather from Sabeeq. It's quite... graphic_ ] "Hello, who are you?" I asked quite directly to the snow leopard.

"This is my husband, Butoh, who is supposed to be getting some food," She added a bit irritated. Butoh gave a cheesy grin.

"Sorry about that, honey," He said in a similar voice to mine, "This is Master Tigress, one of my idol. It's a great honor to finally meet you."

"The same," She smirked. I grumbled under my breath at Tigress.

"So, Butoh, how did you meet Nao?" I asked a bit more stern than I thought.

"Well, I was passing by her shop when a customer started harassing her about having the wrong product. When I came over, he immediately stopped fussing. I don't know why." I did. Butoh was easily just as muscle-bound as Tai-Lung and Master Ox. But from his demeanor, I could tell he was a gentle as a lamb... at times. The swords suggested otherwise. "She, of course, said she could have handled him and somehow from there everything started happening."

"Butoh was just telling me about his service in the military. He was just discharged. And... he mentioned something about a baby?" Tigress asked, smirking at the female snow leopard.

"Butoh! You weren't supposed to tell anyone yet!" Nao said, a bit upset.

"Oops, sorry."

"You're married! You're PREGNANT!" I shouted.

"SSHHHH!" Nao quickly hushed me. "Yes, but I don't want people knowing yet. I want it to be a surprise."

"It was already a surprise that you were married," I pointed out a bit betrayed.

"Hehe, I guess we're even then," Nao chuckled nervously. While Tigress had an idea of what she meant, I _knew_ what she was saying. I simply smiled.

"I'm happy for you," I said, hugging her again. "And congratulations," I said to Butoh, shaking his hand. I looked at his figure. Trim muscles, V-Shape body, handsome smile. He was definitely a keeper for Nao. After talking with my dads, Nao asked me to be the godfather of the upcoming baby, to which I said yes. But as they left, I started looking at Butoh again. Sometimes, I envied people like him. Muscular, trim. Even if women weren't into muscles, I definitely knew most weren't into fat. I looked down at my belly as the two felines left and jiggled it a bit. Tigress, who keeps popping up for some reason, noticed this.

"What's the matter?"

"Huh?" I asked, forgetting she was there, "Oh, nothing. Nothing."

* * *

 _Sabeeq, this journal ends abruptly because the stroll was "Misplaced". Thus, I wrote another._

* * *

Date: 32948

Writer: Po

Sorry for the split up, I don't know where the other journal rolled off to. I have to keep these things in order. Anyways, with Fei-Xing, Nao, and her husband Butoh coming all in one day, it was a bit stressful, to say the least. The next few days were a little strange, but it was mostly my fault. I walked into the barracks, having just taken my eyes off of my belly for a moment to see all the Furious Five there... guarding their food. I would pick some of their food sometimes. They were just joking, but it stuck with me. "Don't worry, guys. I'm not going to eat your food," I smiled a bit as I reached for some bread in the small cooler we had. I was about to walk out until Tigress asked,

"Did you already eat earlier, Po?"

"Oh no, this is all I'm going to eat for breakfast," I mumbled. Now, what happened next, I have to explain the Furious Five's weights for people to understand.

Monkey: 13 kg

Viper: 4.9 kg

Mantis: 6 grams

Crane: 8.6 kg

Tigress and this is of pure muscle: 115.6 kg.

So when I say my back nearly broke when they tackled me to the ground, I'm not joking. "OGH! WHAT'S GOING ON!"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Crane quickly answered. They lifted me to the medical bay and started checking my vitals.

"Guys, what are you doing?"

"Why aren't you eating?" Tigress asked, staring straight over the bed. That's why they were worried?

"I'm fine, guys. I'm just... cutting back on my food intake, that's all." They suddenly surrounded me, standing at ready fighting poses. "Uh Oh."

"Who are you and what have you done with Po?" Tigress growled out. I quickly tried to call them off.

"WAIT WAIT! I am Po!" I cried out. "HONEST!" Just then, Master Shifu came in.

"What is going on in here?" Shifu demanded to know.

"Po says he's not hungry," Viper explained. Faster than light, Shifu's hands were on my throat, eyes, and mouth, trying to find out a disease.

"SHEFUGH!" I said, trying to speak over his hands on my tongue.

"You don't seem sick," Shifu remarked, jumping off of my belly. It jiggled unnaturally. I didn't notice I sighed with a sad face looking at it. But someone else did. "Now, what's the matter, Po?"

"Nothing, I'm perfectly fine," I said. Then Tigress vouched for me.

"I think we overreacted. We were just worried, Po."

"I get it, but next time, please don't tackle me to take CARE of me," I muttered. The others filed out as Tigress stayed in the room. "What is it?" I asked, rubbing my back in a bit of pain. Tigress stood in front of me while I was seated on the bed.

"Why are you concerned about your weight?" She asked. I felt my eyelids widened to the point my eyes felt dry afterward. "You show the signs of a person going on a diet. Why?" I slowly sighed as I stood up and jiggled my belly.

"This," I sighed.

"That belly is what prevented you from Tai-Lung's nerve-attacks," Tigress pointed out.

"I know, it's just... sometimes, I see warriors with these slim trim figures and stuff. And if they are big, they usually don't have a big belly like mine. I don't look like the other warriors," I explained.

"Of course not," Tigress said, "You're Po the panda. As the rumors said, you're unlike any warrior the world has ever seen." I rolled my eyes and gave a deadpanned look at her slight smirk.

"You know what I mean," I grunted.

"What brought this on?" Tigress asked.

"Nothing specific," I replied, not wanting to blame Butoh, "It just comes up sometimes. I'll be fine." Tigress gently placed her hand on mines. I stiffened for some odd reason.

"Po, everyone cares about you because you're special and you are you. Don't ever compare yourself to someone else. You choose for yourself who you'll be." I nodded and sighed. "We have some training to do, though." Tigress smirked with a "matter of fact" tone in her voice. I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"Fine, I'll set up the training gear," I sighed.

Though complained about a better body, life would throw me another curveball.

 **Continued...**


	16. Blessed Terrors

The Blessed Terrors

* * *

Today would mark two years since I visited the Qiang-du Tigers. I knew Tigress wanted to visit them, but I kept delaying, trying to figure out a way to keep from disasters happening... And so that Tigress doesn't punch any guy that tries anything. However, the past three weeks were very trying yet rewarding for me. Zumu and Qiang-du wanted me to watch over two kids for them. A boy tiger and a boy gazelle, both of them orphans. "I don't trust orphanages so I want to give them to you. They've always wanted to see the Jade Palace and meet you."

I talked with Master Shifu and he okayed it, but "You must realize that we'll be leaving the Jade Palace very frequently. There are some diplomacy issues near the place Fei-Xing lives," Shifu said, much to Crane's delight. The bird had been visiting her ever since his injury, which was completely healed. I tried to stop him from annoying Fei-Xing, but she didn't seem to mind. "He helps a lot with the heavy jobs," She would say.

The two boys, however, were two terrors of their own design. Ezouju, the tiger, and Tiaopi, the gazelle, were the most energetic kids I've ever seen. Ezouju, which meant mischief, fulfills his name's meaning to a T. Tiaopi, which means playful, always chose games that called for me running! Ezouju has half the strength that Tigress had before she started her special training, which is still a lot. Both of the boys loved to play games. Whether it was a harmless game of tag or wrestle, or it was getting into trouble, the boys put me through my paces. Ezouju loved Kung Fu and wrestling and he always wanted me to spar with him. You wouldn't expect a kid to punch that hard, so I had to get stronger when we went toe-to-toe. Tiaopi was a completely different story. He loved Tag, and since he was a gazelle, he had speed on his side. I found myself ducking and dodging under and over pieces of the Training Hall equipment, his favorite running ground, just to try and catch up. That surprisingly got rid of my panda asthma.

The major problem was that I was doing it mostly by myself. The Furious Five would be out for three to four days out of the week, leaving me with just Tigress. The boys NEVER messed with Tigress, of course. But with me, they had a little bit more fun. I guess that's when I started looking at the boys differently. They weren't two innocent boys. They were two of my little annoying brothers and I was in charge of them.

CRASH!

"Ezouju!" I shouted, storming into the Training Hall. The small tiger smiled innocently next to his grinning partner in crime. A smashed equipment set was in pieces. "What did you do?"

"How do you know it's me?" Ezouju asked.

"You're still holding the piece that broke," I muttered. The tiger threw the broken part down. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Can't you two _not_ break anything?"

"We're sorry, Master Po. We just wanted to have some fun," Tiaopi said.

"Well, your fun can get your head separated from your body," I said very bluntly, making the two gulp. "Now, I want you two to clean the Hall of Heroes as a punishment."

"Aw, no fair!" They cried.

"Do NOT make me get Master Tigress in here," I sternly mentioned.

"Yes, Master Po!" The two said, stumbling out of the way. I sighed, calling Zeng to clean up the mess while I got some food to eat. Surprisingly after the boy's arrival, I ate just as much as I used to, but I ate differently. A big plate of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains was prepared for me as I sat down and ate. Tigress, who was watching me eat, rose her eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"Why are you eating raw food?" She asked.

"I would eat some of the prepared food, but it doesn't give me the endurance or energy. Plus, this can be made on the fly in the event that there's an emergency.

CRASH!

"Like now," I groaned, dashing off to the site of the crash. There a familiar broken urn was RE-broken on the floor in front of a gazelle and tiger. I furrowed my eyes at them.

"He did it!" They both blamed each other. I sighed.

"Both of you go to bed, it's getting late."

"Sorry Master Po," Ezouju apologized.

"Don't worry, that was has been broken before," I sighed, picking up the pieces on the floor as the two went to their beds. "Was I like this when I was growing up?" I sighed, picking up the whispering urn's pieces and putting their final resting place in the trash. That urn had been re-shaped so many times, it was pointless to try and glue it back together. I stretched my back and went to the boys' room, where they were, for once, sleeping peacefully. I smiled a bit, tucking the covers over them to make sure they were warm. Even though these two drove me up and down a wall, they were two joys to have. I sighed as I went back to the kitchen where Tigress still sat. "You don't have anything else to do?" I asked. It wasn't like her to stay in one spot for long.

"No, I just noticed something," Tigress said, resting her head on her hand as her elbow propped it up on the table. Her eyes scanned me, making me look away and fidget a bit. "Have you lost weight?"

"Hmm?" I looked down. My belly didn't seem as round and jiggly as it once did. When I bounced it, there wasn't the tidal wave of a movement. "Huh, I guess I've lost some weight."

"You're probably the only person I know that DOESN'T get fatter when they have kids," Tigress noted humorously at my discomfort with the word.

"Those aren't 'kids'," I said, putting up air quotations, "Those are workout machines that run me all over the place and can punch much harder than the average person! I'm personally surprised I haven't just quit." Tigress smirked at my exaggeration.

"Does it throw you off. The loss of weight?"

"Not really, if anything it helps me turn and move much quicker, which I have to in order to care for these knuckleheads," I mumbled.

"I told you I could take care of them for you," Tigress offered.

"I know, but I don't want to burden you with them. They're a special breed. Plus, I don't want you to train them to near exhaustion," I commented snidely.

"I was just making it clear if they wanted to use the Training Hall, they would have to use it properly," Tigress defensively claimed. Her small smile wasn't to be trusted.

"Right," I slowly said, sipping a glass of water. Her smile slowly turned to a frown when she thought of something. I had an idea of what it was. "You'll be a great mother." Her eyes widened at me.

"How did you-"

"I've learned to get an idea of what you're thinking at certain times. I'm not always right, but sometimes I'm close," I replied. Tigress smirked as she lightly punched me in the shoulder.

"You really do know me well," She smiled genuinely. I smiled back. Then I sniffed. "What?" She asked as I stared at the door and started to growl.

"Tiaopi, Ezouju, I know you're there," I announced. The two tired looking kids, one rubbing their eye, came in sleepily.

"Could we get a glass of water," They cutely said. I smiled as I gave them both a glass and watched them drink some water. By this time, Ezouju had already climbed into Tigress's lap, laid his head against her chest as he slowly drank some of the water and gave it back to me. Tiaopi did the same when I sat down.

"That's enough. We don't want you waking up in the middle of the night," I warned.

"Could you carry us there? Please?" Tiaopi cutely asked. I could see Ezouju was already asleep in Tigress's arms. She chuckled a bit as she gave me a smile. I sighed with my own smile.

"Okay," I sighed, picking the little gazelle up and carrying him to his room while Tigress put Ezouju in his own bed. "Good night, Tiaopi. Good night, Ezouju." As we were about to leave, Tiaopi mumbled in his sleep.

"Good nigh' mommy and daddy," He said falling asleep. The two of us looked at each other with an embarrassed look. I silently closed the door behind us and chuckled nervously a bit.

"Hehe, kids."

"Yeah," Tigress replied, not really knowing how to respond to what happened. I could understand. But then her embarrassed look turned into a bright smile. "You'll be a great father one day." I smiled back.

"Thank you, Tigress."

The two terrors were with us for another two months before Qiang-du and Zumu sent two guard tigers to receive them again. I hugged both of them tightly as they went off, but not without a warning, "If you two even THINK of causing any MORE trouble in Qiang-du than over here, I will sic' Master Tigress on both of you, understand!"

"Yes, Master Po!" They said, quickly walking with the two tigers. Tigress glared at me for a moment.

"I don't like how you use me as an ultimate punishment," Tigress almost coldly said. I shrugged.

"Whatever makes them behave, right," I muttered. It was about two days later that we heard that our two little boys had been kidnapped by bandits.

 **Continued...**


	17. Kidnapped

Kidnapped

* * *

The male tiger was throne over to a boulder where I punched my fist right next to his head, making the rock crack under the pressure. "YOU LOST THEM! HOW COULD YOU LOSE THEM!?" I roared.

"We didn't lose them! Some bandits took them while we were all sleeping. We tried to catch them, but they disappeared," The male bodyguard tried to explain even though he was scared of me. This was one of the same bodyguards that I met at the gates of Qiang-du the first time. I grabbed him back the collar fur and lifted him up into the air. It's worth noting that he was still a whole head taller than me and bigger than me, but I was enraged and powered up.

"Bandits don't vanish into thin air!" I growled. "Where did they go!"

"We saw them going toward that mountain over there, but we wanted to get back up!"

"Po! Enough!" Tigress shouted, forcing me to drop the tiger. "Trying to kill the ones that were protecting them won't get us to Tiaopi and Ezouju." I breathed in, realizing she was right... again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just..."

"It's okay," the tiger coughed out, "You don't know how many tiger mothers have done the same thing."

"So the other bodyguard is running to Qiang-du to find more helpers. What do we do?" I asked anyone who had an idea. We were in a somewhat densely forested place and Tigress jumped up into to the trees to get a better look. I peered up and stared at her, trying to see her among the fall colors. Why did she have to be orange? "Do you see anything?"

"Smoke in the east," She shouted back as she gracefully tumbled down. " _Very_ thick smoke. And there are some tracks going that way that look like wolves."

"We _were_ attacked by wolf bandits," The bodyguard said.

"Come on, we have to try that way," I urgently called, running after the faint tracks. I don't remember what happened or how long I was running. All I know is that after a while, Tang Hu, the tiger bodyguard, was panting for breath. "We'll rest for a moment, then we have to keep on going," I said seriously. We had moved to a small stream about a foot deep. A large boulder stood out as the tallest of the land of grass and rocks around the stream. Tigress went to the nearest strong tree to look at the source of the smoke.

"Not to discriminate," Tang Hu panted. "But how is it that a panda is able to run for so long and outrun a tiger?"

"I'm not faster than you," I muttered, looking down at the tracks, "When you have a gazelle AND a tiger to look after, endurance and strength are your key training methods." Tigress came back to where we were by the river. Tang Hu sighed.

"I should have fought harder, then those two wouldn't be in danger."

"Don't blame yourself," Tigress said quite bluntly.

"Why? It's my fault."

"I know," Tigress growled slightly, putting a _deadly_ amount of subtle anger in her voice. "But blaming isn't productive." She quickly turned on her heels and started running after the nearby smoke. Tang Hu hurried after her, "We're getting closer to the place."

"How do we know these guys are the kidnappers?" Tang Hu asked. Suddenly, there was a loud boom, causing the black smoke the darken the clouds above.

"Because those two can't stay out of trouble," I muttered, hurrying to the site. Finally clearing out of the forest, we found the camp of the bandits. They were wolves alright, all covered in soot and smoke. I grabbed the nearest coughing wolf I could find, snatching him up by the collar. "A tiger child and a gazelle boy, where are they?!" I asked forcefully.

"Ahh, they're over there, near the blacksmith's workshop. They're the ones that caused the explosion. Please take them! They've been nothing but trouble!" I dropped the wolf for Tang Hu to take care of. Tigress and I ran into the soot rainfall that spread over the camp.

Then we heard a familiar laughter. I turned to my right and found the two boys playing in the soot, like snow on a winter day. "Ezouju! Tiaopi!" The two quickly recognized my voice.

"Master Po! Master Tigress!" They cried out, running up to us and hugging us.

"What did you two do?" Tigress asked, amazed at how they could cause so much...chaos. The camp was in a mess. Tents were in pieces, the wolves were gasping for air, and the blacksmith shop where they were in completely collapsed into itself.

"We just added some more colorful metal into the fire," Tiaopi innocently said.

"That metal was pure magnesium and cobalt. Highly flammable AND combustible," Muttered a big blackened wolf, shaking off the soot from his fur. "You two! Are you the kids' parents?"

"Babysitters, really, but-"

"Good, take them! They aren't worth the ransom we were asking for," The wolf muttered, walked back into his shambled shop. I sighed, looking at the two smiling boys.

"Come on, troublemakers," I smiled, "Let's get you home." Tigress's eyes widened.

"Po, what about me?" I sighed, thinking about the trouble that could happen, but these were Tigress's people. She had a right to at least see them.

"I think it's time you see where you came from. Or at least what it would have been like," I smiled. Tigress still seemed concerned as the boys danced around her.

"Master Tigress is coming with us to Qiang-Du," They excitedly shouted. Although out of everyone there, Tigress seemed the only one apprehensive about it.

 **Continued...**


	18. Reunion

Reunion

* * *

It's amazing how fast things went. Before long, it was night time and the boys were in bed. Tang-Hu snored loudly in his tent. Tigress and I were sitting by the fire. Tigress hadn't said a word since we left the bandit camp three days ago. "Tigress," I finally spoke up, "What's wrong? You've been quiet all this time. And you look like Crane trying to confess his feelings to Fei-Xing," I joked. She smiled a bit, but then went back to her tense stare at the ground. "You don't have to tell me. You know, when you want to you can. I'm not restricting you, it's just-"

"Po," She interrupted my rambling. "Can I be very...vulnerable to you?" My eyes widened. I nodded, knowing this had to be very serious for Tigress to say that. She held herself tighter with her hands rubbing her arms. "I'm... I'm scared." I was speechless. I couldn't form words fast enough. I finally shook my head and tried again.

"Of going to Qiang-Du?" I guessed. She nodded her head.

"What if I'm a monster even among my own kind? You said in your journals that I'm much stronger than any of the tigers now, even Wang wasn't stronger and he's supposed to be the strongest among them. What if I'm still not accepted?" She whispered. I scooted over to her, sitting right next to her. I rested my hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

"IF and that's a big if, IF they don't accept you, then I already have," I smiled. She smiled back, surprising me with a rub of her head against mine. "Uh..."

"I know it's a sign of affection, but...please take that as a sign of gratitude," she said. I smiled. So Pengyou and Wang were going to tease me about the smell. I guess I could live with it.

"Of course," I replied. Then I finally realized something. "Waaaaaaaait! How do you know what my journals said?" Tigress's smiled instantly changed to a 'hand caught in the cookie jar' look.

"I... um... it was in the scroll I found. The trip about Qiang-du."

"Liar," I exclaimed, pointing my index finger at her, "I wrote that bit in a different journal. In fact, I wrote that in the journal that went missing!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tigress tried to rebound in a composed way.

"Hmm, so what do you think about what I said about Butoh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, dodging my trap. Then I thought of a different way.

"Tigress," I said seriously. "I need that scroll. Just to make sure that it doesn't get lost or anything."

"You think I would just misplace it like that," Tigress asked accusingly. I rolled my eyes.

"No, but it's my journal. Besides," I said with a smile, "You could have just asked." Tigress stared at me for a while and then finally sighed. She could never say no to these eyes.

"It's in a chest in my room, by the corner."

"Nice to know," I smile widely, "But I know that the tigers at Qiang-Du won't give you a hard time. The men on the other hand," I groaned at the thought. Tigress's eyebrow rose as she looked at me with a knowing smirk. "No, I'm not thinking like that," I said, already knowing what she was thinking about.

"Hmm," She humorously hummed. Early the next morning, the sights of the guarded gates of Qiang-Du came into sight.

"We're finally home!" Shouted Ezouju.

"Yes, home," Tigress whispered under her breath. I gently took her hand and squeezed as she took a courageous breath. Tang-Hu spoke to the guards who finally opened up the doors. They slowly opened up to a familiar place for me, but a new wonder for Tigress. A diverse array of mirrors of her walked and ran around without a care in the world. People who knew me waved at me. Women gasped and gave me knowing grins to each I shook my head, trying to explain with my hands the situation with Tigress and me. The men were worse. They came up to me and tried to give me tips and lessons. While Tigress was too amazed to register all of this, I was living in Embarrassment City.

Then something started to change. The looks started to go to Tigress. Whispers started ringing out. I stuck close to her, but she already knew. "They're talking about me." She said, self-consciously.

"I'm sure it's nothing bad," I tried to reassure. Presently, a small teenage girl came up to Tigress, shyly asking,

"Are you Master Tigress?"

"I...I am," She carefully said. The girl's face opened up in shock as she shouted.

"IT IS HER!" It seemed like the whole village came running towards us, with open arms and hugs waiting for Tigress. I quickly ducked out of the invading orange horde. I knew Tigress didn't like hugs like this.

"Uh, guys, she's not really-" I stopped short when I noticed Tigress's face. She was obviously shocked for a while, but then... she started crying... with a smile. She started hugging everyone back. I could only smile as I watched the spectacle. As they slowly released her, saying how honored and amazed they were to see and hear about her and her life, it became apparent that I had blabbered about her more than I thought. Each tiger lady whispered something to Tigress while pointing at me. Each Tiger 'gentleman' seemed to point at my irritation while talking to Tigress. The orange hugging horde finally moved away as one little tiger child hugged Tigress's leg and then left. I smiled at Tigress's pleasantly overwhelmed face. "How do you feel?"

"... At peace," She said with a hushed voice, "Finally at peace."

"Master Tigress, are you okay?" Tiaopi asked. She smiled down at the small gazelle.

"I'm fine, Tiaopi," she replied, "just fine." Suddenly, a young male tiger came to Tigress with flowers. "Oh, thank you." She warmly said. I grumbled under my breath and the tiger seemed to notice. He scampered away. As we walked to Qiang-Du's house, a few male tigers came to "see" Tigress. It greatly annoyed me.

"Alright, everyone, leave her be," I commanded, earning snickers from the males and knowing smirks. Then I heard two familiar laughs as we got to Qiang-Du's house. "Tiaopi, Ezouju, what are you two laughing about?"

"You like Master Tigress, don't you, Master Po?" Ezouju teased. I reddened in the face. Tigress cleared her throat.

"You two know that you shouldn't be spreading rumors, right?" Tigress said sternly. The two instantly snapped into place.

"Right, Master Tigress," The two promptly said. Tang-Hu took the two away as we were left at the door of Qiang-Du.

"They're just kids, Po," Tigress smiled at my irritated face. The door opened up to the grandson, Wang. His smile seemed to boom across his face.

"Ah! There's the special panda," His eyes lit up when he saw Tigress. "And Master Tigress!" He said bowing low while grabbing her hand to gently kiss it. "You honor us with your presence." I rolled my eyes as I pushed the male tiger's hand away.

"Enough with the sappy display, Wang," I grumbled, further irritated by his grin. "Where's Pengyou?"

"She's right in the kitchen helping with Zumu. You know how her back is," Wang grimaced as we stepped into the house. Qiang-Du saw us and greeted us.

"Dragon Warrior, it's a pleasure for you to come back," He warmly smiled. Then he saw Tigress and his eyes widened. "And you must be Master Tigress. Master Po has been telling us a lot about you and your life journey."

"He has?" Tigress said with a _careful_ tone that made me sweat.

"Only good things, mind you," Qiang-Du smiled at the two. "Wang, could you tell the women we have two special guests?"

"Yes grandfather," He bowed respectfully and left for the kitchen. Qiang-Du came up to me and laid his hands on mine.

"It is good to have you, Po. This village could use a lot more... diversity," Qiang replied.

"You and everybody are always welcomed at the Valley of Peace, provided they know how to control their strength," I muttered, rubbing my bruised back.

"We would but-" He stopped short when he started sniffing. I instantly knew what he was smelling but before I could say anything, he asked, "Oh, you two are-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," I stumbled.

"Then..." Qiang-Du was visibly confused and I knew why. He could smell Tigress's scent on me. Surprisingly, Tigress came to my rescue.

"You must forgive me," She replied, knowing what we were talking about, "I didn't know the cultural significance of what I did. Between me and Po, that is a sign of deep gratitude, not affection." The old tiger glanced at both of us before smiling.

"It might not _just_ be gratefulness," he said. Before we could say anything, a fast pair of hands wrapped around my eyes.

"Guess who," Said a merry voice. I smiled.

"Is it a very excitable mischievous Pengyou that is too old for this," I smirked.

"Hmph," she pouted, releasing my eyes, "I'm not old."

"I didn't mean it like that," I laughed a bit.

"And you're Master Tigress," Zumu said to Tigress. Tigress bowed to the older female tiger, "We're so glad for you to come. Come, come, sit down and eat."

"Well-"

"OKAY!" I quickly spoke for her. Tigress gave a roll of her eyes but a smile nonetheless. So we sat down and ate an awesome meal. Qiang-Du and Zumu treated Tigress like their granddaughter. I was beaming inside. I was happy that Tigress's experience with the Tigers had gone over well.

 **Continued...**


	19. The story of a torn scroll

The Story of a Torn Scroll

* * *

The village was very warm and welcoming to Tigress's arrival. We stayed there for two weeks before traveling back. A glow came from Master Tigress as we walked back to the Jade Palace. I smiled quietly as we walked through the green lush trees and dense wetlands. The vivid yellow leaves that sprung up in the autumn air seem to float on the calm winds that passed through the flat meadows we came to. It wasn't until we hit the thick green forests that Tigress finally spoke. "Po, is something wrong?" My head popped up from the ground I was staring at.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You've been quiet for a while."

"Oh, I... I'm just happy that you got to meet your past," I answered with a satisfied smile, "I know how tough it could be."

"Po, thank you for helping me... with everything," Tigress replied with a small smile, but then it turned curious. "But I'm surprised that you didn't show as much effort with the others."

"Why do you and Shifu say the same thing?" I sighed a bit out of annoyance, rolling my eyes.

"Po, you went to a far unknown place you had no idea what you would do when you got there, extracted information and knowledge specific to my cause and then spent most of the time training me more than anyone else."

"But that doesn't mean I wouldn't do the same for the others," I argued.

"But you didn't," She cooly said. Her pose was calculated and investigative, peering into my eyes. "Why?" She simply asked.

"I...I don't know what to tell you, Tigress," I replied, a bit nervous. "I just... did it." She slowly smiled.

"I guess I just didn't think you would do something like that... for me."

"Without a second thought," I hastily answered. Tigress's eyes went wide. Then her smirk and knowing smug stare showed through. The one that always made me stumble. "I mean... um... what I meant to say was... In the case of... um... WELL! Look at that, it's getting late. Why don't we just stay for the night!" I quickly recovered. Tigress simply hummed at my blunder. The night wore on and I finally rested on the ground, but I noticed that Tigress wasn't there. I looked around, the campfire's embers were still escaping the smoldering pile of soot. I looked up along their upward path and saw through the small cloud of embers a familiar outline of a figure. The moonlight was shining brightly behind it and vibrant piercing amber eyes shifted their gaze at me.

I felt my body go into a panic, a panic I had never experienced. I knew it was Tigress, but something about how she looked against the moonlight just... paralyzed me. The words, "Tiger, tiger burning bright, in the forest of the night. What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?" whispered to my mind, though I hoped the receiver of that thought could write more words than I could. Tigress jumped off of her perch on the boulder and came near where the small light from the embers could help me see her better. "Po, are you okay?"

"Yyyyyy ye-yes," I stuttered stupidly.

"Are you sure? You were looking me very intently," Tigress pointed out. I couldn't form words. I felt my heart pounding in my chest. Sayings and words from Wang, Pengyou, Master Shifu, the rest of the Furious Five all came rushing to my head. "Po?" Suddenly, I came to a terrifying conclusion.

"Goodnight Tigress," I quickly said, rolling over and closing my eyes tightly. By the merciful heavens, Tigress decided not to pry. We arrived at the Jade Palace about two days after that.

* * *

 _Sabeeq, you'll note that the bottom half of the scroll is torn. That was because I ripped the bottom part to hide from Tigress and the others should it have been found. I did the same to the translation to show you what Tigress would have gone through when she would later find the scroll._

* * *

Date:254333

Po

I sat in my room, my head buzzing with everything that happened. I couldn't think straight, eating didn't help, and if I didn't think of something to do soon, the others were going to question my actions. I had to figure out how to get over this and fast. She would be getting suspicious soon. Luckily, Crane came to my aide with a distraction. "Master Po?" The bird came to my door.

"Crane, what is it?" I asked, hoping to get this thing off of my mind.

"Could you help me with some supplies? I need to take them to the village Fei-Xing lives in for her medicine. Tigress would do it, but she felt like you needed some fresh air," Crane explained. Even when she doesn't know what's going on she knows how to take care of me. Soon, I was helping the bird take the boxes to the inn where Fei-Xing worked.

"Hello, Fei-Xing," I said with a formal smile. The mature female bird smiled as I carefully set the boxes down.

"Hello, Po. Where's Master Crane?" She asked. I turned around. He should have been there. Quick as a wink, Crane surprised Fei-Xing from behind and wrapped his wings around her. "AHH!" She spun around and saw a familiar beak and smirked. "Playful chick," She humorously smiled.

"Takes one to know one," He said, rubbing his beak against hers. My brain stopped. As they separated, I forcefully pulled Crane out of the room and outside. "Hey! PO! What's the big idea?"

"Since when did you and Fei-Xing become a thing?" I blurted out, feeling almost betrayed. Crane thought about it.

"Probably when you started babysitting Tiaopi and Ezouju. I'm actually surprised it took you this long to find out. But then again, you were busy with other things."

"What do you mean?" I questioned. Crane's beak was about to separate and speak, but then he halted himself from whatever he was about to say and just smiled.

"It's alright. I'm sorry we didn't tell you," Crane apologized.

"I'm more interested that you finally told her," I said bluntly, "How?! How did you tell her?"

"Why are you surprised?"

"You're the most nervous bird I know when it comes to women," I pointed out. Crane twisted his beak and face in irritation.

"I'm not that bad."

"That's not the point," I said waving the issue away, "How did you tell her? Weren't you scared stiff?"

"Yeah, but... I love her," Crane answered slowly. "When you're in love, you do crazy stuff for the person, but you should never feel nervous or afraid of telling them. If you love them, being honest with them should be your reward. If it's returned then great. If not, well, the person then knows that you really do care for them. It'll be different, but... it's better than trying to avoid it and letting it fester. You control your emotions, but you also control how things go in your own life. It's hard to describe but you figure it out after a while." Such wise words from a nervous bird. I finally felt a smile form on my face.

"Thank you, Crane," I smiled.

"For what?"

"For helping me understand," I replied. After that, Crane decided to stay with Fei-Xing for a while before coming back so I went back before him. As I traveled up the stairs, to the courtyard, to the barracks, I noticed a familiar smell. "Oh no," I muttered as I slowly opened the door to my room. I could smell her scent from a mile away now for some reason. There standing in my room with a scroll I already know about was Tigress with a semi-angry, semi-hurt face. It was the first time in a while that I couldn't figure her face out. "Tigress?"

"Po," She said very...flatly. She presented the scroll in her hand to him. "This is the journal that you made. The one where you and I went to Qiang-Du?" I was afraid but confused. Why was she upset? There was nothing incriminating about that journal. I made sure of that. But I was a little upset about the fact she found it so easily. It was in Crane's room for safe keeping. How did she find it?

"Okay, I'm keeping my journals in a place you'll never get them," I remarked. Tigress rose her eyebrow, seemingly intrigued that there could be such a place.

"And where is that?"

"My underwear," I said triumphantly as she narrowed her eyes at me. She sighed, calming herself down I assumed. She gave me a serious stare, but her pose seemed like it was mixed with curiosity and unfulfillment. "What's wrong?"

"Po... why is the scroll torn?" That's what she was upset about. I sighed as I looked at the floor. "Po, please. What did you write down? And what... horrible conclusion did you come to?"

"It's... it's," I grumbled under my breath, grasping my head in frustration.

"Did I... scare you that night?"

"What?! NO! No... well... not in the way you're probably thinking," I sighed.

"Then what?" I looked at her, her eyes questioningly piercing through me. I groaned.

"Would you stop looking at me like that?!"

"Like what?"

"Like... that!" I gestured to her eyes.

"How else am I suppose to look at you?" Tigress asked, visibly confused.

"With eyes closed?"

"Po," She said sternly. "Just tell me what's wrong? Why did you tear the scroll? What was the conclusion you came to when you saw me that night?" I remembered what Crane said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Tigress... I love you," I heard her gasp. I slowly opened my eyes. Her hand hovered over her lips. Her eyes were the size of large dumplings. I waited in silence for a reply.

 **Continued...**


	20. Where Are You My Friend?

Where are you My Friend?

* * *

Her silence was too much. I had to fill in the empty space. "Tigress, that night, you looked so beautiful that it was beyond words. I'm surprised that I could even write about it. Then I thought about what you said about me going the extra mile for you. How I act every time there's a male tiger around you or when Wang was around you, and I realized I was... jealous. I... tried to think of when it started, but... when I first saw you I.. had a crush on you. After we met and became friends, I thought it would go away. But... I've always thought of you when there was something major going on in my life. You always seem to stay by me. You've done so much for me that... I thought I would do something for you. To be honest, when we went to Qiang-Du, I was afraid you would stay there forever. And And... And I'm rambling," I finally shushed myself. Tigress was still silent. Her shocked look slowly faded to an emotionless expression. Then she looked at the floor. I recognized that look. This wasn't my first crush. "It's okay. I know you don't see me in that light, but...I just wanted you to know."

"Po," She finally said, trembling in her words a bit. "I..." She crossed her arms. This was her sign of visible discomfort. "I don't think you _should_ love me." That... threw me for a loop.

"Wait, what?"

"Po, all the things you've said are nice, but... I'm nothing like that. I don't know the first thing about caring for others," Tigress sighed, "My job _is_ to care for others, but not like this. I admit that I was... desirous of your attention when Pengyou came. I... I didn't want her to... take you from me. You're very wonderful to be around, Po, which is why I'm with you all the time. You put me at ease and... make me feel different. But... if you liked Pengyou, I didn't know if..." She paused. "You said in your scrolls that she was a delight to have and she is. She... in fact, anyone would be a better person for you. I'm... I'm not good enough for you." I stood there paralyzed. My brain could not believe what just happened.

"I never thought I would say this to you. ARE YOU COMPLETELY STUPID!" I shouted at her, making her jump back. "You are THE Master Tigress of the Jade Palace! Master of strength beyond your kind! You've overcome boundaries that it was LITERALLY impossible for any other tiger to do! You've blown through obstacles time and time again without a second thought! Why in the WORLD would you think you weren't good enough when you're too good for me!"

"BECAUSE OF YOU!" Tigress growled back, flaring out her anger. "You're kind, selfless, and dedicated to helping everyone in your path! You've even tried giving second chances to your enemies! You're amazing with kids, friends, outcasts! You've done more for this village and me than I could ever do for you! You're so caring and you do so much that I can't even think on how to repay you! Then you went out of your way to help me... with everything! My training, my emotions, even my past life, home, and culture! Even though I want you, I just-"

"What are you trying to say, Tigress?"

"I LOVE YOU," She roared out, silencing me once and for all. She turned her head to the ground with her angry glare. "And you need someone better than me." She was about to turn around, but I stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. I turned her around.

"I don't want, or need, someone better than you. I want you."

"Why?" She asked, visibly bewildered. "Why would you love someone so... rough?"

"Well, I'm soft," I smiled, "I need some 'necessary roughness'." Tigress shook her head with a smile. I gently lifted her head up with my hand. "But don't ever talk about yourself like that again. Okay? I love you. Don't ever think otherwise."

"Nor should you," Tigress replied. I smiled as she did as well. I stared at her eyes. She actually chuckled a bit. "Like my eyes?" She teased. I chuckled, a bit nervous.

"They are very pretty."

"So are yours."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Your eyes, compared with the other pandas, are very calming. Like all of my doubts and worries vanish."

"You shouldn't have doubts or worries."

"It happens," Tigress smiled. I smiled back. [ _Sabeeq, u_ _p to this day, neither of us can_ _decide who was the first one to start the kiss_ ] I didn't notice that our heads were slowly drifting close to each other. I heard Tigress softly gasp as my lips connected with hers. Then I heard that noise. That chuffing noise she always made. We separated, I felt as if the moment was a dream. That weird floating feeling that you feel when you're walking through a figment of your imagination. She rubbed her head against mine and chuffed more.

"Hehe, is this a sign of gratitude?" I joked.

"And affection," She added happily, "Thank you, Po. For telling me... and loving me." I smiled. I didn't want to say anything cliché. Anything I would say, I wanted it to be from the heart.

"I love you, Tigress," I repeated, making sure she knew. She smiled a bit chuckling lightly.

"I love you too, Po." We didn't tell the others for two months. That's when lying to them became difficult.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Monkey asked, feeling insulted. I rubbed the back of my head.

"We didn't want to make a fuss if it didn't work out," I replied. Tigress looked at me with a smirk.

"Po didn't want you guys to make a fuss about it," Tigress clarified.

"Why?!" Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey shouted.

"Because you would react just like this," I muttered.

"That is enough everyone," Master Shifu finally said, entering the room. "We have to respect the wishes of Master Po and Master Tigress."

* * *

 _Sabeeq, this next journal I recorded is when you first came to the Valley of Peace with your studies. I could tell from the start you were a very eager person, but I also saw some room for improvement._

* * *

Date: 39354

Writer: Po

It's been two years since Tigress and I have been together. The Valley of Peace has been a buzz of wonderful surprise. For one, A few of the tigers from Qiang-Du have made this place their home. It's been interesting to have both a tiger and panda population here at the same time. The villagers have become calmer around them and Master Tigress because of the new change. The two terrors, Tiaopi and Ezouju, have joined the village and have dragged a few panda kids, like Lei-Lei, into their troublemaking. Other than that, the world seemed so much better. Suddenly, I heard a low growl. It sounded strangely friendly. "Hehe, Hey Tigress," I replied as she sat next to me on the stairs overlooking the Valley of Peace.

"You've been awfully quiet. Is something wrong?" Tigress asked.

"I'm fine. Just... thinking about life and how great it can be," I sighed. Tigress smiled as she rested her head on my shoulder. I never knew that Tigress could be affectionate with me, but I was okay with it. Suddenly, a familiar flapping sounded through the air. Both me and Tigress groaned as Zeng came, disrupting our alone time.

"Sorry to interrupt you Master Po and Master Tigress, but there is a... creature disturbing the peace in the village."

"What... creature?" I asked.

"I... I don't know what kind of animal he is. All I know is that he keeps measuring people and talking in a very strange accent and... it's best if you just see for yourself." Without another word, Tigress and I ran down to the village. Pretty soon, we heard a very excited chattering. Like kids laughing, but then I heard a mixture of upset grunts and some growls from tigers and other animals. I rounded the corner and there in the midst of a group of small kids with concerned mothers and fathers was a feline looking guy. He looked like a leopard, but I never saw a leopard with that many black spots and completely white. The leopard excitedly wrote down the measurements of the kids, which the parents didn't seem to mind. But when he started placing his tape in front of the adults, measuring their height, width, and _**weight** ,_ their attitude changed. He wrote with an eccentric smile while the parents took their kids away from the "rude" leopard.

"Very interesting," He said with a thick accent. It was then I realized where he came from.

"Hello?" I said, slowly coming up to him. He looked up at me and his eyes widened at me.

"My, my I've never seen a panda as fit as you!" He excitedly said, trying to get measurements, but I was rescued by a protective Tigress, who growled at the leopard's advance. "Ooo! You're even better!" He switched targets.

"Um... wait," I tried to say, placing both of my hands on his shoulders. He was about as tall as my chest. His clothing was weird as well. It was a completely all white robe-like garment. It had decorative yellow flowers around the outlines of his clothing. "Please, slow down. You're scaring the locals." He looked completely clueless until he looked around and saw the villagers eyeing him suspiciously. He facepalmed himself.

"'أنا الغباء" He muttered. Loosely translated it means, "I'm so stupid" He bowed low to the ground. "Forgive my intrusion. I was so excited to come here, I forgot my manners," the leopard replied.

"It's okay, I know what it's like to be excited," I smiled, earning a side smirk from Tigress. "Who are you by the way?"

"I am... Sabeeq," He replied.

 **Continued...**


	21. Conclusion

Conclusion

* * *

"Well, "friend", why don't we go to my father's shop to get something to eat. You've obviously been traveling a lot," I said, hearing the leopard's stomach growl.

"Oh, yes, please. Thank you, very kindly," He said bowing lowly. He started walking in front of us. Tigress whispered to me.

"I don't trust him."

"Tell me something that's new," I remarked.

"He's an Arabian leopard and you seem to know a bit of Arabic," Tigress pointed out. That was new. New that she knew.

"What the? How do you know that?" I asked amazed.

"You said the meaning of his name," Tigress pointed out. **(A/N It's actually Sabiq or Sahbeeq for phonetics, but Google translate ain't perfect)**.

"Oh, I did," I realized as we started walking behind Sabeeq.

"How do you know his language?"

"Hehehe," I chuckled nervously, "Uh... an Arabian gazelle had a crush on me one time. I was visiting some relatives over on the west side of China."

"Hmm," Tigress rose her eyebrow with a humorous smirk. The white-ish black-spotted leopard entered the shop with my panda dad and Mr. Ping talking and laughing together.

"And then I said, it's your fault that the machine's not working because you put your slipper in there!" Li Shan retold. Mr. Ping laughed and honked as the Arabian leopard watched on in silent amazement.

"Hey, you!" My goose dad exclaimed, quite harshly. "You want to buy something or what?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm just watching," Sabeeq replied.

"Dads, this is Sabeeq. He's new to the place," I explained. The two fatherly figures looked at me and then at the leopard. He looked excitedly at them with child-like wonder. I wondered whether they could see me in him. They both smiled.

"We're more than happy to have you in the Valley of Peace," Li-Shan replied.

"Just make sure you're a paying customer when you come in here."

"Dad," I said to Mr. Ping. Sabeeq placed a single shard of silver in front of the goose.

"Will this do?" He asked unsurely. Mr. Ping's eyes burst open as he squawked around the corner and wrapped his wing around the leopard.

"Please, come! Relax and enjoy yourself while I prepare you a nice plate of food. PO! We have a nicely paying customer here. Could you be a dear son and help me cook?" the goose asked. I rolled my eyes but smiled. I liked cooking with my dad, plus it would give me some time to figure out what Sabeeq was doing here.

"Sabeeq," Tigress said directly as she sat to his right while Li-Shan was on his left, "Why were you measuring the people here? Have you never seen animals like us?"

"Never, well, not in great amounts," He said with his native accent. "It's amazing to see so many pandas, tigers, and so many different kinds of birds, bunnies, and ducks. I live in a very isolated place of the nomadic lands of Arabia."

"So you're very well traveled," Tigress noted.

"Yes, though my range of knowledge is only limited to Western China, where I learned most of my Mandarin," Sabeeq explained. That would explain it. There is a major difference between western and eastern- where the Jade Palace was- Chinese. Western is more traditional while Eastern was more simplified. **(I don't believe this is exactly true, but it would make sense)**. There's also a difference in dialects, like Mandrian and Cantonese. "I still have a lot to learn."

"Why are you traveling so much?" I asked, from behind the kitchen counter.

"I've been wanting to do an expedition of China for the longest, and I finally got permission to come here. My parents are very strict about going outside of the tribe. They think I'll get killed," Sabeeq replied, with a bit of a rebellious glint. He was stubborn, that much was apparent.

"You nearly did," Tigress pointed out very frankly. Sabeeq sat there, narrowing his eyes at her for the comment. "Anyone with that much money on their person is sure to get robbed."

"Or worse," Li-Shan replied, with a surprising amount of seriousness. The leopard quickly understood his mistake, gulping at the idea.

"But you're used to that, right?" I asked. The Arabian life wasn't easy. In fact, it was much harder than anyone's life. Constantly on the move, with unpredictable, harsh, and hot weather changes, food situations, tribal fighting, and a place known for raids every day, you could be a hardened warrior by the age of 5.

"Well, kind of," Sabeeq replied, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I'm actually kind of a... royalty," He whispered.

"That explains the money," Tigress noted.

"Oh, I never got your names," Sabeeq pointed out.

"I'm Po. And that's Tigress," I explained. "Where have you been so far, Sabeeq?"

"So many places!" He exclaimed. "I even managed to visit the emperor's palace." That got me intrigued. "Though, I did have to sneak in to do it."

"You what?" Tigress said, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, I kind of didn't mean to... I mean,... the emperor apparently had a lot of female and male snow leopards."

"Oh dear," I muttered, knowing where this was going.

"I DO resemble a snow cloud leopard and they mistook me for one of the eunuchs. They were very... surprised when they found out I wasn't." Sabeeq replied.

"Wait, how did they-"

"We don't need to know how they found out, Po," Tigress quickly stopped me. My panda dad laughed.

"You sound just as accident-prone as my son," He bellowed.

"Dad," I sighed in embarrassment.

"Well, my studies have led me this far," Sabeeq replied. "I'm sorry for my disturbance, though. I didn't mean to be so rude."

"It's okay. Not much happens here, save the occasional bandit, warlord, and crazy alchemist," I replied. "OH! Do you have notes about your own kind and people? I've never been that far outside the Chinese border."

"You've _been_ outside China?" Tigress asked.

"Silverware," I muttered, pointing to the goose.

"Well, kind of, but I can definitely give you some details," The Arabian leopard replied. Tigress's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Po is, kind of, the Jade Palace chronicler. Maybe some of his stories can help you a bit," Tigress suggested. The small cat's hazel eyes beamed with joy and excitement. I could have sworn his pupils turned into stars.

"You can?!"

"Most people get excited that I'm the Dragon Warrior," I noted to Tigress, who just smiled at my slight disappointment. Then again, Sabeeq probably doesn't know what the title is or what I've done. "But yes, I've been keeping a record of some of the things that have happened around here."

"Where do you live so we can go over notes?!" Sabeeq joyously asked. I pointed up to the cloudy mountains where the Jade Palace still stood. "You live up there? WAIT! You said you were the Dragon Warrior!?"

"Oh, now he catches on," I muttered, making Tigress chuckle. "Yes, I am the Dragon Warrior."

"But why are you here in a dusty old noodle shop?" Sabeeq innocently asked. Mr. Ping whacked a wooden spoon in front of him.

"Because this place is the best place to get NOODLES! Don't let anyone tell you differently, got it!" The goose quacked.

"Yes, sir!" Sabeeq quickly replied, not really understanding _everything_ Mr. Ping just said.

"You'll have to excuse Mr. Ping. He's a bit...eccentric," Li-Shan smiled.

" _That's_ eccentric? What's crazy?" Sabeeq asked.

"Trying to make noddles in your mouth by putting in dry noodles and boiling hot water at the same time?" Tigress smirked at my sour-looking face.

"Who's the idiot that did that?" Sabeeq muttered.

"He's wiser. Let's leave it at that," I grumbled, still glaring at a smug looking Tiger. I finally made Sabeeq's dish and threw off my apron. "Now, let's get you up to the Jade Palace. It'll give us a chance to test out the new elevator."

"Elevator?" Sabeeq questioned as I and Tigress walked him to the base of the mountain. There stood a catapult, rigged up to shoot pandas up the Jade Palace to avoid the steps. I didn't need it, but it was still fun to use. I remember the time Tigress and I used it and we accidentally flung ourselves to the very north side of the Valley of Peace. On the bright side, I got to meet Nao, Butoh, and the kids. "Amazing!"

"Come on, this thing can support you... I hope," I said, climbing into the thing. Tigress jumped in. Normally she takes the stairs, but she likes hearing me laugh when we do this together. That and she loves to see the scared look on newcomers.

FLING!

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!" Sabeeq screamed in absolute terror as we flew through the air. He clutched onto me as we softly landed on the padded ground we set up for the landing point. "That... was... AWESOME!"

"I know right!" I shouted with equal excitement. Tigress only smiled at our similarities. "Now, let's give you a tour and show you my scrolls."

"I would love that!" Sabeeq said amazed. Tigress couldn't stop smiling as the Arabian leopard ran over all the Jade Palace wonders and furiously wrote them in his journals. He even recorded the Furious Five and Master Shifu in detail. We finally got to my journals, and Sabeeq was absolutely absorbed with the information.

"He looks like you, you know," Tigress whispered to me, happily. I chuckled.

"Are you saying I've slimmed down?"

"Well, yes, but that excitement is something I see in you all the time," Tigress replied.

"Hmm," I hummed.

"Wow, these things are amazing," Sabeeq exclaimed. He noticed something between stories. A suggestion that there was another scroll. "Master Po? What about this star student that you had?" My eyes widened and then I scratched my head nervously.

"Well um... that... that's in safe storage."

"May I see it?"

"No," Tigress answered directly.

"Wh...why not?" Sabeeq asked innocently, "Did something... bad happen to him?"

"Her."

"Oh, um..."

"Nothing bad happened to her," Tigress finally smiled. "It's just... a very personal story that I don't feel Po likes sharing with strangers."

"Yeah, sure that's it," I finally caught up with her level.

"Oh," Sabeeq said, visibly upset at the mention of his alien status. Tigress picked up on this better than I did.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just... ever since I've come here... I... I feel so out of place. Understandably so, but... Ah, never mind. I'm just being pathetic."

"I know a thing or two about being out of place," I said to the Arabian leopard, resting my hand on his shoulder. "You're right, things are new and constantly traveling doesn't really give time to make great friends."

"(Or potential others)," Sabeeq muttered in his native language. I knew what he said, but I didn't call him out on it.

"But," Tigress came to the front of him, "You are welcomed here. The story about the star pupil will... come with time, but... you'll find out eventually. Just be patient."

"Okay," Sabeeq replied with a corny smile. He was like a little feline me.

Time went on and Sabeeq eventually stayed with us for a month. But then... things became difficult. Sabeeq sat in his room, devastated by the news he just received. His family and friends were killed in a bandit raid. His tribe was still strong, but... he was truly alone this time. "Hardship seems to follow me everywhere I go," He sighed in his room. I stood just outside of his room with Tigress and a little panda girl.

"Master Tigress, is Sabeeq going to be okay?" Lei-Lei asked, worried.

"Why don't you go and comfort him, Lei-Lei?" Tigress encouraged her. The giddy but sometimes shy girl went up to the Arabian leopard and offered him her prized Tigress figure, the one that I made. Sabeeq knew how much that meant to her and what kind of sacrifice she was making. He knew because one time he accidentally took it and figured out that Lei-Lei had been training with Tigress for a while. Well, long enough for a swift roundhouse kick to his... um... anyways.

"Lei-Lei, I couldn't-"

"Take it," She, surprisingly very directly, ordered.

"That's your offspring, right there," I said to Tigress, who just smiled.

"Thank you, Lei-Lei," Sabeeq replied as she left. We finally stepped in. "My people are used to hardship all the time. Countless raids and attacks, but..." Tigress and I sat next to him. "I understand that you two have been through this as well."

"Orphanhood is hard to accept, especially by the circumstances you've endured," Tigress sighed. I struggled to say something. Finally, I thought of something.

"Your home doesn't have to be a tent," I replied with a smile. "And your family doesn't have to be related." Sabeeq's eyes looked at me, welling up with tears as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. "You're always family here."

"Thank you," Sabeeq sighed, wiping his tears away. We stayed there silently for a while. Then Sabeeq looked at each of us and asked a question. It was surprising that he could think about that in this situation, but... I guess we try to find distractions where we can. "Master Tigress and Master Po, what is your relationship to each other."

"Huh?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Sabeeq?"

"I mean, I've seen you two very close to each other and..." He trailed off. I blushed a bit while Tigress smiled and continued.

"Well, we are dating, Sabeeq."

"When are you two getting married?" Sabeeq asked. I stood up and sighed, looking at the room, trying to find an answer.

"Um... well, we haven't discussed that yet," Tigress replied. I could feel her eyes on me, wondering why I was reacting the way I was. "We're sorry for what you've gone through, Sabeeq. We'll leave you alone if you would like."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I need some time to think," Sabeeq smiled. Tigress directed me out the door and out to the barracks' entryway. She turned me around and looked at me with a questioning glare.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"What was that reaction for? Why did you seem so... pained about Sabeeq's question?" Tigress asked. I sighed, playing with the trinket in my pocket.

"I was... debating something, but... I think I need to do this."

"What?" I got on one knee, presenting the little box with the sparkling ring inside. Tigress's face was priceless. Her mouth was wide open, her eyes as well as I said.

"Tigress, will you marry me?" she laughed.

"Yes, you cheeky panda," She smiled, helping me up and kissing me. Then a questioning look at me made me sweat. "Why now?"

"For us... and Sabeeq. Today shouldn't be a day for sadness, especially for you."

"Why today-" She stopped short when she realized today was the day she came to the Jade Palace from the orphanage.

"And it will give Sabeeq something to replace the bad memory."

"I hope so," Tigress sighed, hugging me. "I love you, Po."

"I love you, too, Tigress."

* * *

 _Though that tragic day was remarkably hard for you, it became a day of joy. At first, I thought it would be irrationally idiotic to do it that day. But when your face lit up at the thought, I didn't regret it. Now you are with your wife in Western China. Lei-Lei says hi and her husband, Lin, also says hi. Lei-Lei also hopes that you have her Tigress doll still. She wants to give it to her children one day. Lily, our daughter, with Bao, her husband, also wish you greetings. The former members of the Furious Five extend their welcome and hope to see you when you come back next week. Tigress is very worried about you as always, hoping that you are eating well and keeping yourself out of trouble. I hope to see you soon and these letters will give you a solstice for your questions. And I should thank you. None have been so interested in my life and history as you have. Thank you, Sabeeq, for reading and caring for the history of my life. Po's history, I guess. I hope to see you soon._

 _May the universe guide you well._

* * *

 **The End**


End file.
